Transformers Prime: Kenton
by HardyGal
Summary: Following an attack on her base by an Optimus Prime knockoff, Captain Amelia Kenton is offered the job of second liaison to the Autobots. When accepted, Kenton is open to a war beyond any she's ever been in. And when given the chance to act as partner/mentor to a young, overconfident Autobot rookie, Kenton may just have her work cut out for her. (OC inserted into TFP plot)
1. Nemesis Prime

Chapter One: Nemesis Prime

* * *

**POV: Kenton**

Captain Amelia Kenton quickly slapped on her helmet and grabbed her gun, before jumping into the truck. "Go!" she ordered.

A semi truck had come crashing into the base. It had already destroyed a few choppers as it made a beeline for the center of the military base, pursued by every soldier currently on duty. Once it reached its destination, the semi slowed to a stop. Choppers flew overhead and military trucks had now almost completely surrounded it. Without waiting for her own truck to slow to a stop, Kenton jumped out and ran forward readily, aware of Marco and Joshua right behind her.

"This is a restricted area!" one of the chopper officers alerted, via bullhorn. "Exit the vehicle or we _will_ open fire!"

After waiting for a few seconds, Kenton grabbed a bullhorn from one of her colleagues. "One last chance!" she warned the semi driver, before tossing the instrument aside.

They waited for a few seconds more. When no response was received, Joshua and Marco looked to Kenton. She nodded affirmitavely. Both soldiers swiftly approached the truck, guns at the ready. After a quick nod, Marco opened the door and both he and Joshua aimed their guns. Kenton frowned, inclining her head; even from her position she could see that it was empty. Both soldiers turned, shaking their heads.

Suddenly, the semi door shut, and there was a loud series of whirrs and clicks. Startled but not completely losing her head, Kenton wasted no time in shouting, "Joshua, Marco, fall back!"

The two soldiers backed away slowly, staring upwards in shock. The semi had become a thirty foot tall faded red and blue robot. Kenton swallowed her own shock and grabbed the bullhorn again. "Who are you?" she called. "I warn you, if you pose any threat to-!"

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," the bot said in a slow, masculine monotone, interrupting Kenton's warning. "And I bring you this message…" With another whirr, the hand of the robot who called himself Optimus Prime transformed into what looked like a sniper rifle. Which is what it proved to be as it fired.

Kenton was thrown back by the explosion, and she shook her head swiftly to clear her jarred mind. "Open fire!" she shouted, her order echoed by her colleagues.

As this order was followed, Kenton got to her feet and joined her comrades in firing on the leader of the Autobots. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to do anything. It didn't even seem to aggravate the large robot. The bot just returned the fire with slow and steady pulses from his gun, which all but decimated the trucks they were fired at.

Kenton continued shooting until her gun was empty, and she threw it aside impatiently. "Get some missiles on that thing!" she shouted. Grabbing her shoulder radio, the army captain said, "Missiles, boys! ASAP!"

As the order was echoed and obeyed, Kenton took cover behind an overturned truck, removing the M60 gun strapped to her back. One of her soldiers, Samuel, took cover right beside her. "What in the world is this?" he shouted.

Kenton's eyes narrowed. "I think I know. Keep your senses alert, soldier! I need to make a call!" As Samuel jumped up and continued firing at the bot, Kenton reached into her back pocket for her phone.

"General Bryce, sir!" she shouted above the gunfire, speaking in the phone. "Alden Military Base! We are under heavy attack by a robot calling himself Optimus Prime! Repeat, Alden Military Base is under heavy attack! Backup required, ASAP!" Hanging up the phone, Kenton gripped her gun. "William, you are most definitely going to be fired."

Coming up from her hiding place, Kenton took careful aim, trying to see the robot's face through the smoke, before firing rapidly. Optimus Prime seemed unfazed by the bullets that peppered his face and simply turned on Kenton, aiming his yellow pulse cannon.

"Fall back!" Kenton screamed. She seized Samuel by the jacket and ran, throwing both herself and him forward as the truck they'd been hiding behind exploded.

"Fire! Fire!" shouted one of her colleagues, bullets and missiles flying as Optimus Prime emerged from the smoke. The enormous bot simply shot at his offenders calmly.

Kenton got to her knees and groaned, grabbing her calf. Now knowing where she was hurt, she turned her attention to the groaning soldier lying beside her. Throwing his arm over her shoulder, Kenton helped him to his feet, hissing as she stifled her own pain. "On your feet, soldier," she muttered through grit teeth. Turning her attention to her failing comrades, she shouted, "Fall back! Fall back!"

A few soldiers ran over to help her and Samuel, but she waved them away firmly. "No, no! Just him! I'll be right behind you!" The soldiers looked dubious, but they obeyed, taking Samuel from her. As soon as they walked away, Kenton fell to her knees, holding her injured calf.

Optimus Prime was running after the retreating soldiers, firing a few extra shots. Kenton gasped as one of the shots nearly hit her. She staggered to her feet, eyes wide, and began slowly backing up towards the hangars, the best chance at refuge. Then, at the far end of the base, an enormous green anomaly, like something out of a space opera, appeared out of nowhere. And from this anomaly emerged four large robots, with weapons drawn.

Kenton narrowed her eyes, evaluating these new threats - a small, feminine looking blue bot, a slightly taller yellow bot, a much larger green bot, and… an almost exact lookalike of Optimus Prime.

At the arrival of the newcomers, Optimus Prime ceased fire. As soon as he laid eyes on them, the bot turned and ran, transforming back into a truck and driving out of the base. The four other robots were about to fire on the retreating truck, when military reinforcements in the form of a few helicopters came flying over the base. One of the choppers fired a missile at the four robots, obviously thinking that Optimus Prime had been reinforced himself.

The missile just missed the bots, hitting the ground at the base of their feet, and the Optimus Prime lookalike retracted his weapons. "Autobots, return to base!" he ordered, turning on the three smaller bots as they too retracted their weapons. "We must not inflict human casualties!"

Kenton frowned, seizing her shoulder radio. "This is Captain Kenton! Cease fire! There's been a recent development! Repeat, cease-!" She cut off, clicking the radio a couple times, before ripping it off her shoulder and throwing it on the ground with a shout of frustration.

The sound of something rupturing emitted nearby, and Kenton jumped at seeing another green anomaly appear right next to her. The army captain hardly had time to consider this new development as she saw the robots running straight towards it. Towards her.

Backing up quickly, wincing as she put weight on her injured leg, Kenton soon watched as the three smaller bots disappeared into the portal. Optimus Prime's doppelgänger followed close behind his comrades, the choppers behind him firing rapidly. Kenton glanced between the fast approaching bot and the portal, her mind running at a hundred miles an hour as she considered her options.

The bot was almost on top of her.

One of the choppers was about to fire a second missile.

Her options were dwindling at an alarmingly rapid pace.

Finally, Kenton groaned, and drew a handgun from her belt. "Hope I don't regret this," she muttered. The second missile was released and Kenton took that moment to leap into the portal.

Everything was a brief blur of bright lime green, before Kenton took five staggering steps and appeared in an enormous, brightly lit room. Feelings as though her insides wanted to come outside, the captain groaned, pressing a fist over her mouth. Shaking herself, she quickly brought herself back to the present situation.

"What happened?" At this voice - the voice of a _twelve year old boy_ \- Kenton looked up sharply.

Standing on a high platform, observing the titanic bots with some concern, were three kids - a teenage boy, an Asian girl, and a preteen boy. Standing alongside them, acting as though it were completely normal for children to be involved in such a dangerous top secret operation, stood Agent William Fowler.

"Well, we found Optimus's double," said the feminine bot. "But it left as soon as the humans had their backup. We couldn't exactly shoot them out of the sky, even if they were trying to shoot _us_ into the ground."

"And who's your new friend?" said the older boy, looking directly at Kenton.

Surprised, the robots all turned to see Kenton, who quickly aimed her handgun at them. "Don't make any sudden moves," she said sternly.

"Captain Kenton!" Agent Fowler exclaimed.

"Agent Fowler," Kenton said courteously, still keeping her eyes on the towering bots.

The bot that looked like Optimus Prime indicated for the smaller bots to step back a little, before turning to look down at Kenton. "We mean no harm to you or your comrades. Please, stand down."

"I will stand down," Kenton said. "After I am given some idea on what in my mother's name is going on!"

"Guns can't hurt the bots, lady," the Asian girl said suddenly. Agent Fowler and the two boys tried to indicate for her to be quiet, but she ignored them. "And who are you, anyway?"

Kenton narrowed her eyes, not making any movement to lower the gun. "Captain Amelia Kenton of the US army. But you may refer to me as captain or Kenton." She shook her gun in Optimus Prime's direction, but turned her glare to Agent Fowler. "And I again demand to know _what_ is going on."

* * *

"No, General Bryce," Fowler said exasperatedly. "Optimus Prime did not attack our boys. …Because I was with Prime when I received the alert! …Yes, sir. The Autobots _were_ at your base, but only in response to the initial attack. …But sir, I– Yes, sir. I understand." He hung up, placing the cell back in his pocket.

"So what's the damage?" asked the dark-headed boy, whom Kenton now knew to be Jackson Darby.

Agent Fowler sighed. "All military personnel are on strict orders to destroy any and all bots on sight."

"Are you kidding?" Jackson said incredulously.

"But, they're innocent!" exclaimed the twelve year old boy, Rafael Esquivel.

"Optimus was framed!" added the Japanese girl, Miko Nakadai.

"I am afraid there is no proof of that, at least not in the eyes of General Bryce," said Kenton. She sat to the side, tightly binding her injured calf. "A single bot, reported to be your Prime, decimated a military base. It would be stupid of them not to regard any and all robots as a threat."

"But you saw what really happened!" Miko protested. "You can't lie!"

"I did try to tell General Bryce the truth, Miss Nakadai, as you saw," Kenton said with a shrug. "But I only stepped into your crazy world half an hour ago, and thus I am not considered an expert on intergalactic robots. Even _I'm_ rather unsure of what the truth is at this point. And as you heard, even Agent Fowler's words did not change the fact that Optimus Prime was reported, _and seen_, attacking the base."

"The military is just doing what makes sense to them," said Fowler. "Following protocol. We can't really blame them for that. Even if they did believe our side of the story, I'd be concerned something fishy was going on."

"Though unfortunate," said Optimus Prime - the _true_ Optimus Prime. "The military order changes nothing. Our imposter clearly poses a grave threat to humanity."

"A thirty foot tall _transforming_ imposter," Fowler pointed out.

An orange and white bot with emergency signs on his arms, designated Ratchet, said, with a voice of resignation, "They actually did it. Those _butchers_ managed to crack the code."

Optimus Prime spoke a single, dark word: "MECH."

Kenton stopped tending to her injuries abruptly. "MECH," she echoed. "Terrorist group. Advanced technology. You bots are involved with them?"

"We are in no way _involved_ with those barbarians!" Ratchet snapped, glaring.

"Yes, the 'Bots are acquainted with MECH," said Fowler. "Some of them have come up close and personal with the group's rotary saw."

Kenton tapped a knuckle on her lips thoughtfully. "Their technology," she murmured. "They extracted it from you?" She turned to the surrounding robots.

Ratchet shook his head. "Not all of their technology, no. But they _have_ captured a few of our kind and dissected them mercilessly." He sounded dreadfully bitter.

"MECH has been tearing apart as many bots as they can get their hands on, trying to see how they tick, and how to manufacture one of their own," Fowler explained to Kenton.

Arcee - the feminine bot - said, with no little darkness, "And it looks like they finally did. The only question is, how?"

"Well, let's examined the evidence," said Ratchet. "MECH abducted Breakdown, and by all indications, deconstructed him from cranial chamber to heel strut."

"I was there," said Bulkhead - the large green bot - looking regretful.

_'Breakdown…'_ Kenton frowned, thinking. _'An old ally, maybe? Killed by MECH?'_

Optimus Prime continued Ratchet's train of thought, saying, "And we know that more recently they obtained Starscream's T-Cog."

_'Starscream - another ally perhaps?'_

"Which they evidently installed in a knockoff of you," Arcee deduced.

Ratchet added, "Which in turn scanned an appropriate vehicle form."

"Fill the tank with energon…" Jackson said grimly.

"And say hello to Nemesis Prime!" Miko finished dramatically. She turned to Kenton, who was staring at all of them in confusion and fascination. "Autobot stuff. Probably never heard of it."

"No." Kenton allowed a small smile to cross her lips. "But I think I might want to…"

"So where do we start?" said Fowler, bringing all attention back to the matter at hand. "MECH's base could be anywhere."

"Not necessarily," said Optimus Prime. "While MECH may have learned much of our biology…"

"…they haven't necessarily absorbed our _technology_," finished Ratchet. He turned to the large, many screened computer which stood in the room, and began manipulating it. "Without access to a groundbridge, Nemesis Prime would rely solely on its _vehicle_ mode for transportation."

"Chances are the MECH base is within driving distance of both incidents," said Arcee.

"_Both_ incidents?" Kenton echoed sharply.

No one payed her any mind. Fowler exclaimed, with an enthusiasm Kenton hadn't seen for a long time, "What are we waiting for? Let's get out there and mash MECH's little science project!"

"Agent Fowler," said Optimus Prime, voice respectful but stern. "I do not think it advisable to put yourself in harm's way of MECH's robot again."

"_Again_?" Kenton echoed a second time.

"Well, I'm not sure it's _advisable_ for bots to be running recon with the military out there gunning for you!" Fowler retorted, still no one paying any mind to Kenton.

"We will maintain vehicular cover until absolutely necessary," Optimus Prime assured.

In spite of this assurance, Kenton could see William's shoulders stiffen in stubbornness. She frowned, tapping her lips thoughtfully. Even though the army captain had only recently stepped into this world of robots and portals, she was getting increasingly more interested.

* * *

It had taken awhile for Kenton to be convinced of the innocence of the Autobots, and even longer for her to get used to the fact that there were _children_ on the Autobot base. Fowler found himself repeatedly needing to convince her that the kids were simply consultants.

"They are under the very sound guardianship of the 'Bots," he said, with something akin to frustration. "And they are _never_ allowed out on the field." At this last claim, the three 'consultants' looked decidedly uncomfortable.

Though still wary of the Autobots, and still unsure about the kids, Kenton had agreed to hold peace. She knew what she'd seen after all, and all signs pointed to Optimus Prime being innocent.

Oddly enough, the fact that giant robots existed, and were living on Earth in an old weapons silo, didn't faze Kenton. She had heard about these bots. Many of the soldiers on base talked about how General Bryce had alien robots under his command and was trying to keep it under raps. While they _were_ alien however, Kenton could see now that these bots were under no command but their own. Well, Optimus Prime's, that is.

Miko, the enthusiastic (if rather distrusting) Japanese girl, had tried to give Kenton a thirty second course on Cybertronian history. Apparently, these robots were from a far off planet called Cybertron, hence the name 'Cybertronian'. They had fled to Earth after the war weary destruction of their home planet. Unfortunately, the Autobots were accompanied by their mortal enemies, the Decepticons, who were lead by Megatron.

Kenton had absorbed this information, even if she didn't quite understand it, and then moved to tend to her leg.

As it turned out, it wasn't a severe injury, simply some shrapnel embedded in her calf, and fortunately, the Autobot base was equipped to deal with virtually any human need. Platforms had been built into the silo on either side of the main computer, serving to provide the humans with a mutual eye-to-eye view of their robotic allies. The platform to the right of the main computer had been equipped with a few Cybertronian grade computers, and a recreation area with a couch and TV had been set up on the left.

Most important though, was a full first aid kit. Thanks to this, Kenton was soon walking on two legs again, standing alongside Agent Fowler and the children atop one of the platforms.

Apparently, the branch of MECH the Autobots had been acquainted with was the branch lead by former Colonel Leland Bishop, aka Silas. Using what little information they had - the Alden Military Base attack and an attack on Agent Fowler a night or two ago - the Autobots had come up with a few possible locations for Silas's current MECH base. Optimus Prime, Arcee, Bulkhead, and the small yellow bot they called Bumblebee, had left the base to scout out these locations, having used their portal technology to 'groundbridge' there.

The only bot still on base was Ratchet, who was a medic, not a field bot, and was currently attempting to track MECH through their control of 'Nemesis Prime'. He explained this tactic to the humans, saying, "If I can isolate the control frequency of the remote link Silas has employed, I should be able to pinpoint his exact location."

"Remote link?" Rafael echoed.

"You didn't think MECH possessed the ability to create a _completely_ autonomous robot, did you?"

"I was hoping Silas would be operating the bot from _inside_," said Miko. "Because one punch from Bulkhead, and _boo-yah_!" She fell backwards with a comical death gurgle.

"Does she always do this?" Kenton said, observing the fallen girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," was the unanimous reply.

The computer beeped. "Ah-ha!" Ratchet exclaimed triumphantly. "Frequency isolated."

"Then reopen that 'bridge," Fowler said, the words coming out like an order.

"Agent Fowler," said Ratchet, stepping away from the computer. "Did you not hear Optimus advise against your involvement? It's for your own safety."

"Look, doc," Fowler retorted. "I don't plan on dancing with any bots, but there's a human element in play here. And in case you haven't noticed, I happen to be a highly trained, government grade, _human_."

"Yeah!" Miko agreed heartily. "Plus Silas tried to run him off the road. It's personal."

"If that is the case, then I'm going too," Kenton declared. The other humans stared at her. "Silas attacked _my_ base, _my_ soldiers, and there is no way I am letting _you_ go without backup, William."

"Amelia…" Fowler started.

"Captain Kenton, I must protest," said Ratchet. "You have only recently been introduced to us, and there is no reason for more human lives to be risked."

"While I may not know much about bots," Kenton retorted. "I know more than I care to about MECH. Not only that, I have risked my life many times for many things. There is no reason why this should be any different."

"But you're injured, and still under General Bryce's authority," pushed Fowler.

"I'm hardly injured, and no injury has stopped me before. And last I checked, Agent Fowler, I wasn't the only one under General Bryce's authority, and yet still going on a potentially dangerous mission without authorization." The army captain looked at both bot and humans sternly. It was her 'look', the one that told her men that she was going to be listened to. "I. Am. Going."

* * *

Agent Fowler leapt through the groundbridge, Captain Kenton alongside him. The brilliant glow of the groundbridge briefly lit up the night shrouded area, casting light on the surrounding bunkers before it disappeared, once again plunging the area into darkness.

Agent Fowler pressed. "Ugh. I think I'm gonna toss the breakfast I ate back in flight school," he muttered.

"I thought you wouldn't bat an eye at this by now, considering your job," Kenton said somewhat breathlessly, her own hand pressing against her chest.

"It's not like I'm groundbridgin' everywhere, Captain Kenton. I still have a car to make use of."

Suddenly, a crash made both humans turn sharply. It looked like Optimus Prime had succeeded in tracking down his double, as he was currently locked in violent battle with it. The other Autobots however, were nowhere to be seen.

Attentions were quickly torn away from Prime and his doppelgänger when Fowler's phone rang. The agent was quick to answer it, expecting a call from Ratchet. After a moment or two, he said, "Copy that," and hung up. Turning to Kenton, he said, "Hundred meters north."

The two of them turned to the bunker that stood in that position, and Kenton drew her handgun. "Well, let's take down some terrorist rear."

* * *

Kenton eyed Silas with a dark eye. The MECH leader was in the middle of making his Optimus Prime knockoff get back to its feet after a well aimed blow from the real Prime. As she and Fowler had covertly climbed up the sides of the silo, Kenton had gotten a good view of the brutal fight. But distraction was not something she could afford, and Kenton forced all attention on the task at hand. After all, she was in enemy territory, and one absent moment could mean the difference between life and death.

With this in mind, Kenton and Fowler had reached the top of the bunker with little to no trouble. It was only a matter of knocking out the few MECH guards standing there, before the two of them started their descent down into the bunker.

As she climbed down the bunker ladder, Kenton could see the entirety of the current MECH base. It was dark and gloomy, with only a few scattered lights providing sight in the gloom. A few MECH members milled about - on the ground, on the platforms - but the place of honor was in the middle of the silo, where Silas sat at an enormous computer. Not as enormous as the computer back at the Autobot base, but big enough to be impressive. Through it, Silas could see what Nemesis Prime saw, and control the bot's every movement.

"My robot chassis possesses all your strength, speed, _and_ firepower," Silas boasted, speaking to Optimus Prime as he used his stolen technology to attack the Autobot leader.

Fowler looked up at Kenton, who was right above him, and made a few hand gestures. Kenton replied with her own hand movements. Fowler nodded and Kenton replied mutually.

"Add my extensive combat training," Silas continued. "And MECH has clearly achieved the perfect meld of man and machine."

Both Kenton and Fowler soon reached the ground, and both went running in opposite directions. As Silas was occupied with combating the Prime, the two soldiers silently and covertly took out the MECH lackeys around the silo. Kenton couldn't actually use her handgun the way it was supposed to be used, as that would not be covert, but she found it useful for pistol-whipping.

The army captain whacked the butt of her gun against the head of another lackey, catching him before he fell and quietly lowering him to the ground. Then, she heard a pained grunt that did not sound as though it came from another unfortunate henchman. She spun around sharply, seeing Optimus Prime's metal face taking up most of Silas's view screen. The eyes of the Autobot leader portrayed a pain that almost startled Amelia.

"But the key difference between you and me," Silas said, sneering at the Autobot's pained faceplates. "My body can't feel _pain_!" Silas shoved one of the levers forward and Prime's eyes seemed to nearly roll back as he groaned.

Kenton simply stood there. She had seen comrades stabbed before, and it was something that Kenton never liked to witness, but something about seeing an autonomous robot portraying a startlingly human expression of shock and pain… It jarred her.

Distracted by what was happening between Silas and Optimus Prime, it took an arm around Kenton's throat to bring her sharply back to her task. She shoved her elbow into the stomach of her attacker, forcing him to release her. Ignoring the crackles of pain going up her arm, Kenton spun around and punched the man's lights out.

"This is just the beginning." Silas let Optimus Prime fall to his hands and knees, clearly gloating over his near victory. "Imagine an army of transforming robots. No one will stand against the newly rebooted MECH."

"Think again, _Sy_," Fowler said, with an air of undisguised cockiness.

Silas turned in his seat to see his MECH members scattered about the silo, unconscious, and a certain agent approaching him out of the darkness. "Agent Fowler," he said pleasantly, getting out of his control seat. "In the flesh at last." Kenton also emerged from the darkness, approaching Silas from the right side of his control unit. "And who is this?" he inquired, turning to see this newcomer.

"Captain Kenton," the female soldier replied coldly, holstering her handgun.

"I don't believe we've met."

"Well, I'm just the backup," she said, shrugging indifferently. Spinning around, Kenton delivered a clean punch to the face of an approaching MECH lackey.

As the army captain became occupied with what remained of the MECH members, Silas turned back to Fowler. "So, I suppose its just you and me, then?"

Fowler punched a fist into his palm - "And I'm pulling a plug on your video game!" - before charging the MECH leader.

Kenton knew that they had a plan. Distract Silas for as long as possible so Prime could take down his immobile doppelgänger. However, she knew that things had gotten just a bit more complicated since Prime was currently recovering from a stab wound. Also, her injured leg was starting to protest. As she fought off the other MECH members, Kenton could hear Fowler and Silas converse as they fought their own battle.

"Ex-military?" Fowler inquired, after Silas dodged and countered his attack easily.

"Special tactics," said Silas. "You?"

Fowler was able to deliver a few well aimed blows to his opponent. "Army rangers."

"Retired, clearly," Silas said, managing to dodge a few more of Fowler's punches.

"I may be outta shape," Fowler admitted. "But I don't need to bust you up." He aimed another punch at the MECH leader again. This time Silas countered with two well executed kicks, and William flew backwards.

Kenton delivered a few swift hooks and uppercuts to one MECH lackey, giving a final jab to his chest, before spinning around to deliver a kick to one of his friends. Though she succeeded in getting the man in the chest, Kenton cried out in pain. Her right leg, the injured one, the one that she had used to deliver that kick, couldn't take anymore. As she tried to quickly regain her composure, a blow was landed between her shoulder blades and the female army captain collapsed.

As both soldiers sat up, now surrounded by MECH henchmen, Fowler said, "I just need to buy Prime a little time."

Kenton could see the realization dawn on Silas. The MECH leader turned sharply to see Optimus Prime on his feet and ready to attack the defenseless copy. Rushing to the control seat, Silas pulled one of the levers, allowing Nemesis Prime to block Optimus's blow. But Prime was unfazed, pushing aside the block and delivering several successful blows to the almost dormant clone.

"No!" Silas exclaimed, trying desperately to regain control of his robot. "No!"

Optimus Prime continued to beat his doppelgänger until it was down. He then leapt into the air to deliver one final blow. Suddenly, the silo shook, and realization hit Kenton like the concrete falling from the ceiling: the two bots were _on top_ of the bunker.

"Fall back!" she shouted, scrambling to her feet.

The ceiling broke open, and Nemesis Prime came falling down with the chunks of concrete accompanying him. It all fell down, all on one spot.

"Silas, fall back!" Kenton yelled.

But it was too late. Nemesis Prime landed heavily on its control unit and its creator.

"No!" Fowler shouted.

The dust cleared quickly, and there was the sound of powering down as Nemesis Prime's yellow eyes dimmed and blackened. The Optimus Prime knockoff was no more, and so was its creator.

"Agent Fowler," acknowledged a soothing baritone. "Captain Kenton." The two spoken to looked up to see Optimus Prime crouching on one knee beside the hole now taking up most of the bunker ceiling.

Kenton saluted. "Good work, sir," she said. It took her a moment to realize that she had instinctively called the Autobot leader 'sir'.

"And I have both you and Agent Fowler to thank, captain," Prime said with a gracious nod. He turned at the sound of choppers approaching.

"That would be our boys," said Fowler. "I'd advise you to get back to base, Prime. We'll handle Uncle Sam."

Optimus nodded in acknowledgment. By the time to choppers got to what used to be the MECH base, Optimus Prime was gone.

* * *

"Our boys have retrieved the remains of Prime's doppelgänger," Kenton said, talking through William's communication unit. "As far as General Bryce is concerned, we have retrieved the remains of Optimus Prime, the bot who attacked Alden Military Base. The alert on any and all Autobots has not yet been repealed, but Agent Fowler and I are working on it."

::Thank you, Captain Kenton,:: said Optimus, who was being repaired by Ratchet. The stab wound in his side was not as fatal as it would have been for a human, evidently.

::So, how weird was it to see someone who looked exactly like Optimus kicking the scrap outta you?:: Miko inquired, speaking to Bulkhead. Apparently all three field bots, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead, had faced down Nemesis Prime and were fortunate enough to survive to tell the tale.

Bulkhead just huffed, rubbing his head.

::It's a sight I won't forget,:: said Arcee.

::The question remains whether MECH will continue to function as we know it without its leader,:: said Prime.

"Well, here's the kicker," Fowler said grimly. "We sifted through the wreckage with a fine tooth comb, and couldn't find any trace of Silas."


	2. Grill

Chapter Two: Grill

* * *

**POV: Kenton**

Amelia Kenton had been in the army for a long time, but at the moment she was as nervous as a rookie. She had just finished giving her oral report to General Bryce concerning recent events. While certain things were beyond Kenton's understanding, the general gist of her report boiled down to: the MECH bot that the military had retrieved was not Optimus Prime's offline chassis, Optimus Prime himself was alive and well, and he and his Autobots were innocent of any attacks on the US military.

Kenton had known General Bryce almost as long as she had been in the army, and he was not someone who could be easily convinced of anything he had already decided for himself. It was hard enough trying to convince him that Prime was innocent, but nearly impossible to convince him that Prime was still kicking. To top it off, the army general constantly brought Kenton's knowledge of the Autobots into question, pointing out that she was hardly a reliable spokesperson for the intergalactic robots.

In the end, Bryce wrapped it up with, "Amelia, you are a good soldier. One of the best I've trained. You have good instincts. But I'm afraid that your judgment of the Autobots is unreliable at best."

"Yes, sir, I am _very_ well aware of that by now," Kenton replied. "But in which case, I suggest you call in Agent Fowler. Surely as Autobot liaison, he can be counted on to give a reliable report as to what exactly happened."

"That's what I'm hoping," Bryce said grimly.

Now, Kenton stood beside the general as he sat behind his desk. She did hope that Fowler would be able to wrap up this whole fiasco. Kenton had come to respect Prime and his Autobots in such a short time, and she had seen for herself how much better they were as allies than as enemies. Agent Fowler was called, he soon entered the room.

"Special Agent Fowler," Bryce said sternly. "Please, come in."

Fowler glanced from the chair set out for him, to General Bryce, to Kenton, to Private Daley. The private had been standing in the room for the past hour or so, camera on his shoulder, recording the conversation between Kenton and General Bryce, and now Fowler and General Bruce.

"What's Private Daley doing here with that camera?" Fowler inquired, going to sit down in the chair across from General Bryce's desk.

"He will be making a record of today's session," Bryce replied.

Daley stepped forward, bringing the camera up to Fowler's face.

"Soldier…" Fowler turned to shove the rest of his face into the camera. "Too close."

The private backed away swiftly.

Fowler sat down, looking back at General Bryce. "Sorry I didn't dress for the occasion."

"Formality won't be any more necessary than usual, Bill," the army general said. "But I do need to inform you that our higher ups are on the warpath."

"They want answers regarding recent events," Fowler deduced.

"Captain Kenton has already given her report on the matter," Bryce said with a nod. The mentioned army captain nodded at Fowler, the corner of her lip pulling back nervously, and General Bryce continued. "However, as the Autobot liaison, we hope that you will give a more reliable view on the story. Perhaps we should begin with the demise of Optimus Prime."

"I thought we straightened all this out," Fowler said, sounding a little exasperated. "Prime is alive and well."

"That's difficult for our superiors to accept, without the benefit of seeing Optimus and the alleged imposter."

"Side by side? That didn't seem to be the wisest option at the time. The sky jockeys were under direct orders to destroy any and all Autobots on sight."

"We were in a heightened state of security," Bryce explained.

Agent Fowler shook his head, choosing to change the subject. "Let's consider the positives. We now posses greater intel regarding MECH. Particularly their leader, Silas. The stage name of one Colonel Leland Bishop. Ex-Special Tactics."

General Bryce looked quickly through Silas's profile, which Fowler had handed to him. "The architect of Project Damocles," the general said grimly, lowering the file.

Fowler nodded. "Satellites in orbit, firing laser beams at any target on earth. Long since mothball, and the primary reason for Bishop's discharge. He had other wild ideas, which he practiced with even greater abandon once he went rogue."

"And still no sign of his remains," Bryce clarified.

"Of greater concern," Fowler continued. "MECH agents, like Silas, might also be Special Tactics."

"As in currently enlisted," Bryce said, forming the sentence neither like a suggestion nor a question.

"One obvious motive for hiding their faces," Fowler said with a nod. "I would urge a thorough investigation, and leave bigger threats to metal hands more capable than our own."

"Because you've been allowed to operate at such deeply classified levels, perhaps you could provide some background," Bryce suggested.

Fowler sighed, but complied. "Our transforming visitors are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. They were fighting a war, mainly over the control of their planet's energon supply, the fuel and lifeblood of their kind, both Autobot and Decepticon. Apparently both sides began hiding their energon hordes on other planets, such as Earth, which is why the 'Bots and 'Cons ended up here in the first place, waging battle on each other. These battles over energon, and it's dark counterpart, continue to this day."

"And you know this for certain?" Bryce inquired.

"I've seen more than enough to make me a believer, but I rely on field reports from Team Prime, which I, in turn, share with you."

"Skip ahead, if you would," said General Bryce. "To the history of _your_ involvement, Agent Fowler."

Fowler adjusted his seat and continued. "As you know, I wasn't overjoyed with what I assumed was gonna be a bot-sitting assignment. But it's occupational hazards turned out to be surprisingly severe, and the 'Bots have saved my bacon more times than I can count. Course I've returned the favor a time or two, sometimes exercising my authority, sometimes relying on quick thinking. And I've made a few mistakes."

Kenton raised an eyebrow, but continued to stay quiet.

"If you would, Agent Fowler, provide a role call," said General Bryce.

"So we'll know who's who in the event another bot snaps?" Fowler said grimly.

"Something like that."

"Well, there's Bulkhead. He's a big bot, and used to be a construction worker before everything on his home planet went downhill. 'Course Big Foot and I don't always see eye-to-eye. He may not be the most agile bot, and he's the first to admit he's no rocket scientist, but his brute strength is invaluable.

"Thankfully, the science angle is more than covered by Ratchet. The Doc can be a little… tightly wound. But he brings his A-game when the situation calls for it.

"Then there's Arcee."

"The motorcycle?" said Bryce, sounding just a little cynical.

"Don't be fooled by the smaller footprint. She leaves a mark. The same goes for Bumblebee."

"The Urbana," Kenton said automatically.

"Captain Kenton," said General Bryce. "I must ask you not to speak unless spoken to."

Kenton clasped her hands behind her back, standing straight at parade rest, eyes fixed on the wall before her. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

Fowler glanced at Kenton, before continuing. "Bumblebee is the team scout, but the warrior-in-training seems pretty accomplished if you ask me. Arcee may be a bot of few words, but Bumblebee doesn't use any. That we can understand. Turns out, it's with good reason. During the war for Cybertron, the poor kid got his voice box torn out by Megatron."

"So, the Autobots aren't quite the indestructible war machines we'd hoped," General Bryce deduced.

Kenton's brow furrowed. "War machines?" she muttered under her breath. "What?"

"Don't misunderstand," said Fowler. "They can take serious punishment. But they do have their vulnerabilities. We learned that the hard way when we lost Cliffjumper."

"Cliffjumper?" Kenton said inquiringly.

"Amelia," Bryce said sternly.

"One of the first Autobots on Earth," said Agent Fowler, obliging to Kenton's unspoken request for information. "A good bot, but he was unfortunately killed early in my Autobot liaising career."

"And for the record," General Bryce said slowly. "Cliffjumper was the last Autobot casualty?"

Fowler clearly saw the implications in the question. "I _told_ you," he said impatiently. "The lifeless Autobot you have in storage isn't Prime. It's a knockoff!"

"We have only your word to go on, without any trace of Silas, or the alleged technology utilized to control said knockoff."

"A clean scrub is MECH's M.O. You and I both know it! Plus, you not only have my word, but the word of Captain Kenton to go on!"

"And no proof to solidify either of your claims," General Bryce pointed out. "What's more, Captain Kenton can hardly be relied upon as a character witness for the Autobots, seeing as she only met them yesterday."

"General Bryce," Kenton said. "With all due respect-"

Bryce held up a hand, and Kenton quieted down. The general turned back to the agent on the other side of his desk. "Agent Fowler, your last debriefing indicated that Optimus Prime had joined the Decepticons."

"Not willfully!" Fowler exclaimed, getting to his feet. "Prime had amnesia! I _know_ I was clear on that."

"But you can see where outside observers might connect the dots to the recent attack on our base. Bill, the Five Stars have grown nervous that we've been placing our trust in beings who could so easily inflict harm if they chose to turn on us." General Bryce sat back in his chair, wearily in manner. "That's why I've been asked to determine whether I should bring you before a tribunal."

Amelia glanced at the general sharply, and Fowler's eyes widened. "Tribunal?" he echoed incredulously. "They could shut down operation! Put me in jail!"

Kenton quickly went to stand alongside Fowler so she could look the general in the face. "General Bryce, sir," she said, trying not to sound frantic. "I've known William for years, and I _know_ that he is a very sound agent. What's more, I believe that our superiors should reconsider acting against the Autobots. Calling a strike against them would likely induce their wrath, should they survive-"

"Captain Kenton, if I need to bodily remove you from the room I _will_ do it," General Bryce said sternly. He sighed and continued. "I have known Agent Fowler longer than you have, Amelia, and I have know him to be a sound source. However, recent events have called certain things into question. And the higher ups have already considered. The Autobots have been proving to be just too dangerous, and termination may be the only option."

"General Bryce, Prime is no loose cannon!" Fowler insisted. "He's anything but. The 'Bots may be big, but they watch where they step. Heck, even the kids…!"

"_Kids_?" Bryce inquired sharply.

Kenton turned away, fist over her mouth.

Fowler laughed nervously, instantly realizing his slip-up, and Private Daley circled him with the camera as he sat back down in his chair. "That's what we call our in-house support team," he said, using an improvised half-truth.

Kenton knew that telling the real truth about Fowler's so-called support team would surely result in a tribunal. Though every part in her was in conflict, pulling between protocol and personal feelings, Kenton settled on what felt right. She kept quiet.

"I wasn't aware you were utilizing any of our resources other than yourself," said General Bryce.

"They're… not enlisted," Fowler confessed.

"You've involved _civilians_ in a classified operation?" The general sounded angry.

"Highly accomplished civilians," Fowler defended. "Who contribute specialized expertise in… computer science, medicine, uh… communications."

Kenton coughed. She had not been around the kids for long, but she wondered how exactly they contributed in any of those forms.

General Bryce however, appeared to calm down. "So they know how to take orders," he said with a satisfied nod.

Fowler hesitated. "You… could say that. But what they lack in military discipline, they more than make up for with outside the box problem solving. Their courage is to be admired. They've proven time and again that they're willing to put their lives on the line for their country and their planet."

"So your civilians have made enemy contact," General Bryce deduced.

"They've… pretty much seen it all. Rest assured, the safety of these humans - of all humans - remains the primary concern of the Autobots, and our colleagues wouldn't have it any other way. They've forged meaningful bonds with the bots, and they provide valuable assistance whenever I'm… otherwise engaged in field.

"But their involvement was never intended to be anything other than _humanitarian_," Fowler continued. "To provide the Autobots with a means of better understanding life on our planet."

"Captain Kenton," General Bryce said suddenly, and the one spoken to stood to attention. "You've met this group I presume."

"Yes," Kenton said with a nod.

"What are your thoughts?"

Kenton looked at Fowler, then back at Bryce. "They… certainly provide interesting problem solving skills," she said hesitantly. "And are at least somewhat well-learned in the Autobots' technology and biology. From what I've seen, the Autobots learn as much from them as they do from the Autobots."

"And what have we learned from the Autobots?" General Bryce inquired, turning back to Agent Fowler.

"In hindsight, not much," Fowler admitted. "Their technology is amazing. Sadly, we haven't begun to take full advantage of their science. I mean, I can pilot my VTOL without ever having to wear a flight suit."

There was a bite of skepticism in General Bryce's voice as he asked, "What keeps your organs from exploding?"

"A modification Ratchet performed on the cabin pressure regulator." Fowler smiled, looking a little abashed. "I… like to be comfortable."

"We… may be getting off track," said General Bryce. "Please address why we haven't yet been served Megatron's steel head on a silver platter."

A little annoyed, Agent Fowler said, "The leader of the Decepticons has nine lives, plain and simple. It's not like we haven't tried. The sick part is, the moment we might have pulled it off, we needed him. Megatron actually helped us save humanity."

"Elaborate."

"We found ourselves facing an even greater threat than MECH or the Decepticons. Literally an enemy within. Unicron." Fowler spoke the ridiculous sounding name like one might mutter 'Satan'. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but what if I told you our planet's core isn't made up of what science has lead us to believe it is?"

As soon as Agent Fowler said Unicron, General Bryce had begun looking a little weary. Kenton herself had pressed a hand to her forehead, shaking her head.

General Bryce took a deep breath, and sighed. "Agent Fowler," he said. "I'm sorry to say I'm forced to discontinue this debriefing until you undergo a full psychological evaluation."

Fowler's eyebrow rose slightly. "Seriously?"

"Not a joke, William," Kenton said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"As a representative of the United States government," General Bryce continued. "I believe you may have lost your sanity."

Fowler looked startled for a moment. He glanced between Kenton and General Bryce. "What…?"

Kenton raised an eyebrow as a sign of confirmation, crossing her arms.

The agent looked back to the general. "General Bryce, I assure you that I am quite sane."

"It defies all logic, Bill," Bryce said bluntly. "'Dark Energon'? Th-then you go on record saying that you believe in magical horses with horns on their heads!"

Fowler was silent for a moment. "What?"

"Do you deny previously reporting that Megatron helped defeat a unicorn?" Bryce asked.

Fowler let out a soft scoff of incredulity. "That's what you…? Uni_cron_!" he corrected, with heavy emphasis. "The ultimate evil! Permission to strike this from the record," he added, seeming to realize how ridiculous he sounded.

"Granted," General Bryce said graciously. "But consider yourself on notice." Fowler sighed, and Bryce continued. "You were saying Megatron proved to be an ally."

"The circumstances were unique," Fowler admitted. "Oddly, the 'Con most likely to be of service is Starscream, only by default, because he may despise his team more than he despises ours. Starscream has never had the best loyalty track record, and everyone knows it, especially Megatron. But even after Megatron attempted to terminate him, Starscream still tried to win his master's favor. Starscream's insecurity is what makes him less predictable than Megatron, and in some ways even more dangerous. He really needs to figure out if it's Megatron's job he wants, or Megatron's approval."

"I must in turn ask why successful termination of _Starscream_ has not been achieved," said General Bryce.

"Air superiority continues to provide the 'Cons with the upper hand, though we've managed to inflict the occasional setback. But the fact remains, Starscream has supplied valuable intel since he went rogue. Not to worry, the 'Bots know better than to trust him implicitly. Fortunately for us, despite his strategic brilliance, Starscream is his own worst enemy."

"Starscream is the one who lost what the Autobots call a T-Cog, correct?" Captain Kenton inquired, before adding, "Sorry, General Bryce, sir."

The general held up an admissive hand.

Agent Fowler nodded affirmatively. "Yes. The T-Cog is what allows both the 'Bots and the 'Cons to transform. Unfortunately for Starscream, his was… misplaced a long time ago."

"If Starscream is now unable to transform, what continues to prevent his successful termination?" General Bryce demanded.

Fowler sighed wearily. "Starscream is one 'Con who is more slippery than a wet eel. No matter how bad the situation, he is somehow able to escape from it relatively unscathed. And Starscream isn't the only one who's taken flight from Megatron."

"The spider," said General Bryce. Obviously he knew something that Kenton didn't.

"Airachnid," Fowler said grimly. "As sadistic as they come. And she and Arcee have quite a history. I can't help but feel the next time they lock horns, only one's gonna walk away, unless Megatron gets to Airachnid first."

"So the in-fighting among the Decepticon ranks continues."

"And then some," Fowler confirmed. "Megatron can't seem to keep his inner circle holding hands."

"And you don't think we could take advantage of the chaos?" said General Bryce. "Motivate a Decepticon to join our cause?" Kenton noted the use of 'our cause'. General Bryce was starting to instinctively accept the Autobots as allies.

"There is one who Prime seems to respect," Fowler said with a slow nod. "Dreadwing. Prime has always hoped that at least _some_ of the 'Cons'll change their ways, and Dreadwing is the one he has most confidence in. But having witnessed Dreadwing tear up a town, I wouldn't hang my hopes on it."

"So I must press the point," said General Bryce. "If Optimus believes that even a Decepticon holds the potential for change, why couldn't the reverse be true? No one truly knows what went on behind the Decepticon curtain while Optimus was off the grid. Not you, not the Autobots."

"I'm one-hundred percent with Ratchet on this one," Fowler said sincerely. "Being a Decepticon is a choice, and one that Prime is highly unlikely ever to make. Even if he is made to believe he's a 'Con, Prime will never stop holding the ideals of an Autobot. Against all odds, suffering amnesia, Prime engineered his own escape to face down Megatron. But is Prime capable of change… Prime has recently proven he's willing to go further than ever to protect humanity. Optimus Prime is a true patriot. He and his team continue to risk their lives, day in and day out, asking absolutely nothing in return. The simple fact is, Prime doesn't have a bad circuit in his body.

"As liaison to the Autobots, I strongly caution that now would be the _worst_ time to call Prime's dedication into question!" Agent Fowler declared, getting to his feet. "We're on the verge of an even greater threat than we've faced before! The Decepticons are on the hunt for long buried relics from Cybertron! Preliminary intel suggests that they could be sacred objects with mystical properties, or weapons of mass destruction."

"Mystical?" Bryce echoed, looking thus far unimpressed with Agent Fowler's passionate speech.

"Uh, strike that too! The point I'm trying to make here is…! Ugh! Hold on!" The frustrated agent pulled out his phone and hit quick dial. "Prime!" he said. "I need an assist."

There was a low rumbling sound. Agent Fowler walked over to the window, pulling up the closed blinds. Kenton gasped and Private Daley fell over in shock as Optimus Prime's faceplates appeared in the window.

"Agent Fowler," said Prime. "Have you uncovered MECH agents?"

"No, they're ok," Fowler said.

"William, how long has Prime been out there?" Kenton demanded, walking over to the window.

"Since we arrived on base," Fowler said simply.

"Hello, Captain Kenton," Optimus said courteously, before looking back at Fowler. "Agent Fowler, what assistance do you require?"

"Not me. General Bryce here just needs to confirm the state of your… health and welfare."

"I am fine, General Bryce," Optimus said, looking to the army general. "How are you?"

"I am well, uh, soldier," General Bryce said, seeming to get over his initial shock at seeing the face of a thought-to-be-dead-and-rogue bot in his window. He was silent for a moment, before saying, "Bill… I believe I have everything I need to make a persuasive case that Optimus Prime is indeed alive and well. And firmly on our side."

Agent Fowler saluted. "We appreciate your support, sir."

"Dismissed!" declared General Bryce.

Kenton shook her head with a small smile, pulling Private Daley to his feet before making to follow Agent Fowler.

"Not you, Amelia," said Bryce. "I would like to have a word with you…"

**A/N HardyGal: Five follows, two favorites, and two blessed reviews. You guys beyond rock!**


	3. Armada

Chapter Three: Armada

**A/N HardyGal: Due to lack of human insertable action in this episode, this chapter will simply be from the POVs of a few different bots instead of Kenton (who will not be in this chapter). Mainly the from the point of view of the assassins (Starscream, his clones, and Airachnid), the target (Megatron) and the assassins' opponents (Bulkhead and Arcee).**

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

Bulkhead awoke with a groan and a splitting helm-ache. "Ugh, my head-gasket…" Perhaps he should check in with Ratchet and…

But instead of the familiar, cozy brightness of the base, Bulkhead's optics looked through sinister darkness, illuminated only by a few cold lights and piles of energon cubes.

"What the…?" Bulkhead quickly got to his pedes, his aching helm already forgotten, and jumped down from the bed of energon cubes he had awoken on.

Looking around, Bulkhead could think of only one place with this much energon, packaged and ready to be used. "The 'Con's warship?"

The Wrecker stepped back, and shouted in alarm as he turned to look down and /33 rows and rows of clouds floating below him through the pickup tube. It was at times like these that Bulkhead wished that he was a flier.

"Ratchet," he said, using his comlink to contact base. "Don't ask how I got here. Long story." There was no reply, only white noise. "Ratchet, do you copy?" Again, no reply. "Scrap."

Slagging 'Con shielding. Well, it looked like he was on his own for now. Bulkhead slowly stepped towards the door, nearly reeling back in alarm as it opened automatically. The Wrecker swiftly regained his composure, and inched his way through the doorframe.

"Stealthy… Stealthy…" He stopped short as a few pedsteps clunked their way down one of the hallways.

Venting in a panic, Bulkhead tried to go back into the pickup room, but the door shut itself on him. Silently cursing the 'Cons, the door, and his big, fat, un-stealthy chassis, the Autobot pressed himself against the door and waited for the pedsteps to pass by. Once they did, Bulkhead slowly stepped away from the door. He walked backwards, keeping his optics on the hallway that the pedsteps were still echoing down. When his back struts bumped into another, Bulkhead turned, cannons in place of his servos and with a sharp vent that was in sync with a higher gasp.

When he saw who it was Bulkhead almost could not believe his optics. "Starscream?"

The spindly seeker, who's own weapons had been armed, clenched his servos in frustration. "Why is it that every time I return to my old stomping grounds I find an Autobot roaming the halls?"

"Don't tell me that you came crawling back to Megatron," Bulkhead said darkly, glaring at the rogue Decepticon.

"Hardly!" Starscream snapped. "Now out of my way!"

Starscream tried skirting around Bulkhead, but the big Autobot quickly got back in his way. "'Scream," he said. "You gotta show me the way off this boat."

"Sorry," Starscream said, with an air of haughtiness. "Too busy."

"Look," said Bulkhead. "When _you_ needed help-!"

"As I recall," Starscream retorted before the Autobot could remind him of his humiliating call for help. "We bartered. So, unless you have anything of value to offer me, step aside!"

Bulkhead's glare got darker. "The exit," he said dangerously. "_Now_!"

"I may have given Arcee a free pass when she and I last met…!" Starscream tightened his finger joints, and his claws instantly raked across Bulkhead's chestplates. "But I won't hesitate to skewer you as I did a certain Cliffjumper!"

Bulkhead had stumbled back after Starscream's blow, servo pressed on the wound. Now, at the mention of Cliffjumper's murder, Bulkhead looked back at the treacherous seeker with a look of unbridled rage. It was obvious that Starscream now realized too late that he had made a grave mistake. With a roar of anger, Bulkhead charged, and laid a heavy blow on the unprepared flyer with his wrecking ball.

Starscream flew backwards, landing hard. With a quick shake of his helm, he sat up sharply, servos transformed into guns. "Perish, Bulkhead!"

But before Starscream could fire, the angry Wrecker leapt into the air, and came down hard on the Decepticon. There was hardly a coherent thought in Bulkhead's processor as he swung fist and wrecking ball hard into Starscream's chassis. All he could think of was how much misery this slagging 'Con had brought on him and his team, and how much he had always wanted to do what he was doing now: beat him down.

"This is for Cliffjumper!" Punch. "For Bumblebee!" Punch. "For everything." With a shout, Bulkhead delivered a final, crushing blow.

The green Wrecker vented heavily. The cloud of anger dispersed. His processor cleared. He took noticed of the wrecking ball that was in place of his servo, and of the dead frame lying limp beneath him.

Bulkhead stood up, backing away from Starscream's frame. "You left me no choice…" But, retracting his wrecking ball, and looking down at the big, blunt servos that could both build and break, Bulkhead knew that he'd had a choice.

* * *

~TWENTY-FOUR HOURS EARLIER~

**POV: Starscream**

"Oh, what I would not give to have wings again." The grounded seeker walked - walked, slaggit - through the desolate valley.

There was only one thing that would improve his foul mood, and he soon spotted it. "Ah, just as I left it." Starscream smirked. "The Harbinger."

Or what half was left of it anyway. But the fact remained, Starscream now had a base that only he knew about, and perhaps he could find something useful in there. Most importantly, energon.

"Things are finally looking up," Starscream said to himself.

He had been doing a lot of that. Talking to himself. Especially lately. But Starscream found that he thought better when speaking. And he also wasn't the type to suffer in silence. He did wish that he could find a like-minded soul to listen to his grievances, however. The slagging medic Knock Out had hardly been a sympathetic ear when Starscream had still been among the Decepticons.

Despite his hopes that things would turn to his favor at finding the Harbinger, after a quick scout about the downed ship, Starscream found himself to be wrong. He dashed a broken console to pieces with an angry shout.

"Oh, _really_?" he demanded angrily. "Not one scrap of energon?" He smashed a fist into a wall.

Suddenly, something creaked, and there was a hiss, as though a door was opening. Starscream quickly backtracked and peered into the dusty room. He walked in, the door hissing shut behind him.

"A laboratory," Starscream murmured. He began to manipulate the main console. To his surprise and pleasure, it went online. "And it's functional."

The rogue Decepticon continued to manipulate the console, hoping to find what this laboratory had been used for. Then, five lights turned on, one at a time, illuminating…

"Protoforms."

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

Bulkhead had been out on a simple patrol. Things weren't supposed to have taken the turn they did. But then again, things never did turn out simple for the Autobots.

The Wrecker drove down the silent road, and his sensors detected an energy reading. "Bulkhead to base," he said through the comlink, as he drove off-road. "Picked up a strong reading. I'm gonna go check it out."

* * *

**POV: Starscream**

"Let's see, transference of binary bonding, submolecular infusion… The formula seems straight forward enough." Starscream began to prepare the protoforms. "Well, my little lumps of clay, you look like you're ripe for the molding. Let's give cloning a whirl, shall we?"

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

It wasn't long before Bulkhead reached the source of the energy readings. Transforming, Bulkhead ran towards a very, very big hole in the ground. It was like a well, only there didn't appear to be anything in it, at least as far as his optics could see, even with the bright afternoon sun shining down.

"Huh, no sign of activity," he said to himself, and began to climb down into the 'well'. He might as well investigate what the 'Cons were up to, assuming that this big hole in the ground was the work of the 'Cons. Ah, scrap, of course it was the work of the 'Cons.

* * *

**POV: Starscream**

He started out looking desperately for energon. One might say sacrificing several vials of his precious and hard looked for life-fluid for the sake of a science experiment was madness.

But Starscream was not 'one'. At least, not anymore once his 'science experiment' was completed. And it was not a science experiment, it was another plot to extinguish Megatron's spark. A plot so brilliant that Starscream was more than willing to sacrifice his energon if it meant that Megatron would be offline and that he, Starscream, would be the ruler over more energon than he could handle.

Also, Starscream was madness incarnate, to be quite frank.

As the cloning process activated, Starscream laughed maniacally. Lightning flashed, sparks flew, CNA was scanned, energon vials were depleted, injecting into the five blank protoforms.

Starscream pulled the necessary lever to activate the last step in the cloning process. "Give me _life_!"

In mere nanokliks, five Starscream clones stepped down from their stands. Exact clones, right down to the very CNA.

"Ah, like-minded company," Starscream said pleasurably. "At last."

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

It was only when he had climbed about a third of the way down when Bulkhead saw what was at the bottom of the 'well'.

"Energon. Boxed and ready for pick-up." Bulkhead considered calling the team and informing them of his find, but a shadow passing overhead distracted the consideration.

It was the 'Con warship, and it was coming down low. No doubt it was preparing to pick-up the energon.

"Scrap…!" Bulkhead attempted to accelerate his climbing down. But one slip of a pede and one crack of a rock soon had the Autobot falling the rest of the way. As soon as he hit the bottom, Bulkhead was out like a light.

* * *

**POV: Starscream**

"Esteemed members of my armada," declared Starscream. He paced before his clones, relishing in the so-far success of his plot. "You stand upon the very precipice of glory: to meet the destiny which I have so tenaciously worked toward!"

"Dynamic leadership of the Decepticons!" exclaimed one of the clones.

This sudden outburst surprised and almost unsettled Starscream. He was admittedly not an expert on cloning, but he did hope that the prime character - that is to say, the original - would be able to exercise considerable control over his cloned brethren.

The original Starscream stammered for a moment, caught off guard. "I am delighted to hear that we are on the same page," he said, managing to regain his composure.

"We are as one, commander," said another clone.

"We share your memories," said yet another.

"Your very feelings."

"Even your insatiable quest for power."

Starscream cleared his voice box, optics narrowing. "I see." The grounded flyer had not counted on this degree of exactness when it came to cloning. Starscream knew himself, and thus he knew his clones. He would have to keep a wary optic on them.

* * *

"Fortunately, the Harbinger's tracking systems have remained synced with Megatron's warship," said Starscream, having lead his small army of clones outside. "Of course, we shall require a means of reaching the-" He cut off, hearing multiple sounds of transformation.

Turning quickly, Starscream looked up to see five jets hovering in the air.

"You can transform?" he demanded incredulously. He quickly attempted to regain composure, trying to retrieve his air of authority. "Uh, of course you can! Heh. How else would you _fly_ to the ship? That was a test, which you all, uh, passed. Now, take flight, and snuff Megatron's accursed spark!"

At his command, all five clones took off into the sky.

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

Bulkhead awoke with a groan and a splitting helm-ache. "Ugh, my head-gasket…"

* * *

**POV: Starscream clones**

"Spread out," one Starscream clone ordered quietly. "Keep to the shadows."

"Any one of us is an instant target aboard this warship!" another clone said in objection. Being back (so to speak) on the _Nemesis_, every clone was rather nervous.

"But to be seen together would sacrifice the element of surprise," pointed out another clone.

"Whoever manages to find Megatron first," said yet another clone. "Report your position."

Every clone was satisfied with this proposition. The warship was very big, and one hardly knew where Megatron would decide to hang out next. It would be faster and more efficient, if a little less safe, for them to split up.

A clone warily stepped through the halls. He cursed the echoes that reverberated with every pede step he took. The sound of a few Vehicons down one hall had his spark pulsing rapidly, and he backed up slowly. His back struts hit against another chassis, and he spun around with a sharp vent, missiles armed and aimed at… a slagging Autobot.

"Starscream?" the Autobot Bulkhead exclaimed in surprise.

* * *

**POV: Starscream**

"I cannot wait to savor the vivid details of Megatron's demise." Starscream had been pacing patiently around the Harbinger valley, waiting for any indication that Megatron was at his clones' mercy. Nothing had happened yet.

Suddenly, Starscream felt an agonizing pain burst in his side. The seeker screamed, more out of shock than pain, and quickly looked his chassis up and down. "What is happening?"

This time, the next scream was a legitimate cry of pain. Starscream was close to falling to the dirt in agony, feeling blow after phantom blow to his chassis. That slagging binary coding…! Finally, there was final and almost stasis inducing blow that had Starscream release a long wail of pain. He fell to his knees, clutching his helm.

"My genetic code provides my clones with a T-Cog I no longer possess, and all I get is their agony?" he cried. Oh, he must have been a fool to dabble in cloning!

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

After dragging Starscream's dead frame to the side, Bulkhead peered around the corner into yet another hallway. It seemed to be empty and there was a blessed piece of technology sitting in the middle of it.

"A comm. unit!" Bulkhead quickly went over to the unit and attempted to enter the necessary access codes. "Bulkhead to base, do you read? Do you copy?" He vented in annoyance. "Stupid 'Con tech… Is his thing even on?"

That is when he accidentally accessed the ship-wide comm. system, and then the alarm went off. While trying to protect his audials from the noise, Bulkhead managed to deactivate the comm. and the alarm.

"Phew…!"

Bulkhead heard the sound of a nearby door opening, and he decided to make his exit.

* * *

**POV: Airachnid**

Airachnid hadn't had anything to do lately, not since she had scrapped Breakdown. Now, it was simply perusing about the Earth, and surviving. But finally, something happened: "A Decepticon beacon. At last."

It was mildly surprising, but welcome to finally receive the beacon she had been waiting for. Airachnid was an excellent huntress, but even she couldn't find the Decepticon warship, not without her ship and equipment (curse that human boy).

The spider-bot transformed and landed before her cave of secret weapons. "Devoted servants, the time has come for the ultimate retribution." She called to her Insecticon brethren, not just in words but in mind. She could feel a stir as the stasised Insecticons became aware of her call.

"Awaken, my loyal Insecticons," she said. "Your queen has finally need of your services."

* * *

**POV: Arcee**

"Optimus, no word yet from Bulkhead," said Ratchet, who was at the computer, as he had been all day.

Arcee was a little worried that they hadn't received another report from Bulkhead since he'd comm'd them telling them about an energy reading he'd detected. But she knew Bulkhead. If he was in trouble, he would find a way to get himself out.

"But I am detecting some rather curious subterranean frequencies," continued Ratchet.

"Of earthly origin?" inquired Optimus.

"I do not yet _what_ they are," said Ratchet. "But I do know _where_." He pulled up a map, pinpointing a certain location which Arcee grimly recognized.

"The coordinates at which we last encountered Megatron." Optimus recognized the location as well.

"_And_ Airachnid," Arcee said darkly.

"_And_ Airachnid's Insecticon," Ratchet added.

* * *

**POV: Airachnid**

They were awake. They all were, and they all awaited her command. Airachnid could not have been happier. "Arise, my armada," she said. "And _attack_!"

In moments, a swarm of Insecticons poured from the cave mouth, singing in honor of their leader. They now had only one task in mind: attack the Decepticon warship, destroy Megatron.

* * *

**POV: Arcee**

When Arcee, Bumblebee and Optimus stepped through the groundbridge, the first thing they saw was a swarm of Insecticons taking to the skies.

"We are in all likelihood witnessing the launch of a mission to terminate Megatron," said Optimus.

"I can't think of a reason to stop that," Arcee said honestly. "Even if we could."

"But we _can_ stop Airachnid," said Optimus, looking down from the edge of cliff they stood on.

Arcee couldn't think of a reason not to. The three Autobots activated their guns, aiming at the spider-bot standing on the ground far below. Unfortunately, the sound of their servos transforming was heard by said spider-bot, who looked up at them. Before any of the 'Bots could fire, a small squadron of Insecticons broke away from their swarm and began attacking them. It was fortunate that neither Optimus, 'Bee or Arcee were struck by the Insecticon gun pulses, but as the dirt was kicked up into the air by said gun pulses, obscuring the vision of the Autobots, Arcee knew what she had to do. She was not about to let Airachnid get away again.

After delivering a swift kick to an unfortunate Insecticon, the Autobot two-wheeler transformed and leapt off the cliff edge, leaving Bumblebee and Optimus to deal with the Insecticons as she pursued the femme who had tormented her for stellar-cycles.

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

"Stealthy… stealthy…" Bulkhead had been crawling through the vents for awhile now, or at least it seemed like awhile to his big chassis.

The large Autobot froze when a Vehicon voice spoke through the warship intercom. ::Lord Megatron.::

Bulkhead took a peek, and his spark skipped a few pulses when he realized that he was _right_ next to the Decepticon warlord.

"Yes, what is it?" said Megatron.

::An intruder!::

"Autobot?" inquired the Decepticon leader. Bulkhead cringed in on himself as he waited for the beginning of the end of his life cycle.

::Starscream.::

It was a mixture of relief and shock that struck the Autobot as he heard that name. Screamer was still online? How was that possible? Well, at least it wasn't his chassis that was about to be hunted down. Not yet, anyway.

::He was last seen in the vicinity of the bridge,:: continued the Vehicon.

Megatron said nothing, but simply turned and walked down the opposite end of the hall, soon leaving Bulkhead to vent with relief.

* * *

**POV: Arcee**

It didn't surprise Arcee that Airachnid was running. The slagging spider was a survivalist. She wouldn't fight unless she knew she had the upper hand. That was one thing Arcee had to her advantage, but she would only have it to her advantage as long as Airachnid wasn't feeling confident enough to deliver the first blow and as long as she managed to catch up to the spider-femme. On the other servo, if she _did_ manage to catch up to Airachnid, Arcee might be up against a cornered glitch rat. A cornered survivalist was more dangerous than a confident survivalist.

But that didn't matter to Arcee, just so long as she made that spider pay for what she had done.

As she pursued Airachnid through the woods, Arcee was almost thrown off course by a gun pulse, which nearly struck her. As Arcee weaved two avoid the disorientating dust and the deadly pulses, she adjusted her rearview mirror. A pair of Insecticons were on her tailpipe.

_'Mind in the moment, eyes on the prize.'_

Arcee continued driving forward, straight towards a tree. At the last moment she veered off. In her rearview mirror she could see one Insecticon crash into the other as the latter halted to avoid crashing into the tree. The first Insecticon spiraled, out of control, through the air, straight towards Airachnid.

"No!" the spider-bot cried, coming to a halt. But too late. Arcee could see the Insecticon crash right before its mistress, throwing up a cloud of dust.

The blue Autobot drove through the dust, came to a halt, and transformed. Before her was a large hole in the ground, and the sound of drilling slowly faded away as her quarry tried to make her escape.

"Underground," Arcee muttered. "There's a surprise." Transforming her servos into her blasters, Arcee jumped down into the hole after the spider.

* * *

**POV: Megatron**

There was an offline Vehicon lying against the door of the bridge. It was practically torn apart, the work of sharp and vicious servos. Megatron need no other indicator that his treacherous former SIC was on the _Nemesis_.

As he entered the bridge, cannon armed and at the ready, Megatron saw still more indicators that Starscream was on ship. The dead Vehicons strewn across the bridge were unnecessary indicators, however, for the bot who had brought about this destruction was standing at the head of it all. His servos were clasped behind his back struts, and he stood there as though he had never betrayed the mech who was now pointing a cannon at him.

"Megatron…" Starscream turned, a smirk on his faceplates. "It has come time to settle old scores."

Megatron laughed mockingly, lowering his cannon. "Really, Starscream?" he said. "All on your own?"

"Actually…" said a chorus of familiar voices.

The Decepticon warlord was not easily surprised, but surprised he was, at least mildly so, as he surveyed the four bots who now surrounded him. Four Starscreams, all with missiles armed, glared at Megatron with an air of overconfidence that would only have been seen in the treacherous seeker.

"Clones," Megatron said. "Well played, Starscream. If you're even here among your underlings."

"Underlings?" one of the clones echoed. "We are as one."

"Though many," said another.

"Bring me Starscream's head on a stick," said Megatron, choosing manipulation over outright attack. "And I will reward you as my second-in-command. All of you."

The clones seemed to hesitate, glancing at each other. "No!" snapped one, turning back to Megatron. "You are trying to trick us!"

"Am I?" Megatron inquired rhetorically.

"Is he?" one clone inquired after another.

"Accept my proposal," said Megatron. "And we all win. Otherwise, you will merely end up terminating each other to get the spoils. It is your nature, after all."

"Don't listen to him!" one clone ordered.

"Prepare to perish at _my_ hand!" another snapped.

"_Our_ hands!" they all exclaimed unanimously.

"Yes!" said the first Starscream clone, the one Megatron had initially mistaken for Starscream. "Only our combined firepower will assure Megatron's destruction!"

"Take aim…!" said another clone.

Before the order to fire could be announced, a loud droning sound distracted the four clones. Megatron himself wondered about this sound, but his processor was fully focused on his imminent peril, and he kept an optic out for a turn of the tables.

"Do you hear that?" said the first clone.

"Ignore!" ordered another clone. "Fire on three!"

"One…"

"Two…"

_Crash_. Megatron stumbled slightly as the _Nemesis_ shook. The halls echoed a loud crash, coupled with the muffled sounds of rapid firing. As the clones stumbled and fell to the ground, Megatron knew that the odds had now turned to his favor.

"What was that?" said first of the clones.

Megatron aimed his cannon, powering it up. "The sound of the tables turning." He fired.

As the other three clones got to their pedes, Megatron shot down two of them with two quick pulses of his cannon. The last clone looked from his downed comrades to Megatron; it did gratify the warlord to see the fear in Starscream's optics, even if they were in a pseudo frame. Another pulse from his cannon sent this clone flying backward.

* * *

**POV: Starscream**

The seeker shrieked, dancing around as three- no, _four_ massive pains exploded in his chassis. "What is going on up there?" he demanded.

* * *

**POV: Megatron**

The last clone was still online, albeit, injured. Megatron approached it as it tried to pick itself up. "Exterminating you was so gratifying the first three times…" he said.

The Starscream clone turned, terror in his optics. But before Megatron could terminate the last clone of his former second-in-command, another crash and shake of the warship nearly sent the warlord off balance. Though he managed to retain it, this gave the clone opportunity to make its escape.

Megatron narrowed his optics, but made no pursuit. Either Starscream would terminate it, or it would terminate Starscream, or they would terminate each other. No matter how it turned out, Megatron was hardly worse off. He now had more pressing matters to investigate, such as what was happening to his ship.

The main viz screen was activated, revealing an enormous swarm of Insecticons attacking the _Nemesis_.

"Airachnid," Megatron said, surprise almost non-existent. "A busy day for assassins."

* * *

**POV: Arcee**

::Arcee,:: said Optimus, speaking through the comlink.

The two-wheeler attempted to ignore the comm. Her personal excuse was that her close to successful hunt of Airachnid now called for concentration and silence. But Arcee knew that the real reason that she wasn't answering Optimus' comm. message was because she did not want him to deter her from a quest that she knew, she knew was almost over.

Arcee's pursuit of Airachnid underground had led her to a wide open cavern, which was filled with empty stasis pods from which the Insecticons had emerged. But nowhere could Arcee yet see her quarry. As she began to walk into the maze of empty stasis pods, a movement caught her optics. Arcee could see Airachnid's reflection in one of the stasis pods.

Optics narrowing, Arcee began dodging almost before Airachnid began firing. She tucked, rolled, and took cover behind a stasis pod. Airachnid kept on firing on her determinedly. Faceplates hardened, Arcee came out from behind her refuge and fired on the spider-bot with equal determination, yelling as she did so. Airachnid fell from her perch on the wall, landing hard on the ground. Arcee approached, weapons aimed in readiness.

"When you extinguish my spark," said Airachnid. "Make it hurt. You know I would extend that courtesy to you."

And oh, how much Arcee wanted to extend that courtesy. But she couldn't, and she wouldn't. "I'm not like you."

"Very well." Airachnid attacked.

Arcee dodged, and leapt back as Airachnid made another attempt to attack her. The Autobot drew her knives, almost snarling. Her optics landed on an empty stasis pod, before being quickly drawn back to her opponent, who attacked with vicious strikes of her spider legs. Arcee blocked every blow, and leapt at Airachnid, delivering a hard punch and final kick.

Airachnid stumbled backwards, right into the stasis pod. As the thing started beeping, the spider-femme realized what sort of position she was in.

"_No_!"

But too late. The pod snapped shut, clipping the end of one of her spider legs. Arcee watched coldly as the femme she had loathed for so many stellar-cycles struggled to escape the stasis pod. Then, Airachnid froze, shock and panic permanently etched on her faceplates.

* * *

**POV: Megatron**

When Megatron had stepped out onto the roof of his warship, it was an aerial battle field. Vehicons shot down Insecticons, Insecticons shot back. Most of their fire, the Insecticons' fire, however, was on the Nemesis. As Megatron joined his followers in the firefight, well aimed cannon pulses taking down Insecticons left and right, it occurred to him that victory for himself would take a lot longer to achieve. The Insecticons, all they seemed to want to do was crash land the warship, and destroy him. They could all, together, make good time of that.

But that did not matter to Megatron. Surrender was not an option, and neither was retreat. As the Insecticons took notice of the Decepticon leader, they began transforming, landing in front, behind and beside Megatron. The silver mech readied himself. He was a gladiator of the Pits of Kaon. He would go down fighting.

However, as more Insecticons began landing about the _Nemesis_, surrounding Megatron, he noticed that none of them attacked. The first one that had landed before him had made to attack him, but it had pulled back. Soon, every Insecticon that had covered the skies about the warship (excluding those who had been shot down), had landed about Megatron.

They all bowed. "Forgive us, one true lord and master."

Megatron surveyed his new army. "This day has certainly seen its share of thwarted intentions."

* * *

**POV: Bulkhead**

When the Insecticons attacked the ship, it had been startling, but it just gave Bulkhead all the more reason to get off the slagging ship. Even when the Insecticons backed down, that just meant more Megatron lackeys that could soon be on his tailpipe if he were discovered.

Bulkhead kicked himself out of the vent. He landed in a room only lit by _numerous_ tubes of energon, all of which inserted into a large core. The power core.

Bulkhead transformed his servo into a wrecking ball. "One way or another, I'm getting off this boat." The former Wrecker leapt off the platform he'd been standing on, and smashed his wrecking ball into the power core.

Bulkhead's wrecking had set off an explosive chain reaction, but he hadn't stuck around to see most of it. As the warship began to tilt downward, Bulkhead ran through the halls trying to find an exit.

He did find an opening: the place where all the planes took off. Not only that, a very spindly surprise tumbled past the large green Autobot.

"Out of my way!" Starscream snapped, quickly getting his bearings back.

Bulkhead watched in shock as the very much alive Starscream _transformed_ and took flight through the opening.

* * *

**POV: Megatron**

Today had certainly seen its share of excitement. First Starscream's assassination attempt, then Airachnid's. Now, the _Nemesis _seemed to be falling from the sky. This was getting rather irritating.

Megatron entered the bridge. He did not even need to call for an explanation.

"My liege," said a Vehicon officer. "Our power core has been compromised."

"Prepare for landing," Megatron said grimly.

The warship did come to a crash landing, and as every bot on ship gathered themselves and prepared to gather the ship back together, no one saw a green off-roader speed away from the wreckage.

* * *

**POV: Arcee**

"Stasis," Ratchet said bitterly, looking at the in-stasis Airachnid. "She deserves worse."

"I _intended_ worse," Arcee admitted. "More times than you know."

"You are stronger for the choice you made," said Optimus.

They were all back on base. Things had quieted down, and Airachnid's stasis pod was soon to be sent to their vault. Now, the only question was 'where is Bulkhead?' Suddenly, a loud honking came echoing down the base entrance. A green truck rolled in, and transformed.

"Guys!" Bulkhead said excitedly. "You are not gonna believe the day I had!"

The other Autobots looked at him skeptically, and then he noticed Airachind. "Oh, you too, huh?"

* * *

**POV: Starscream**

Starscream heard his clone enter the Harbinger, and still he did not turn from where he stared at the wall. His chassis continued to pulse painfully.

"Lord Starscream," said the clone. "Your most loyal servant has returned." Just the words Starscream would have said the Megatron… "But I regret to inform you that our collective mission has failed."

"Hmm, yes," Starscream replied. "I got that sense. Something to do with… a throbbing ache in my side!" He turned, and fired a missile. His treacherous clone flew backwards.

Starscream gasped as a new pain blossomed in his chestplates, but he did his best to suppress the pain as he approached his now critically injured clone, pinning it under his pede.

"You knew I would attempt to terminate you," the clone said weakly.

Starscream winced, servo over his chestplates. "I feel your pain…" He raised a second missile. "Really, I do." He fired.

"Aaugh, _scrap_, that hurt!"

**A/N HardyGal: It was actually really fun trying to delve into the minds of these characters. I hope this chapter wasn't too boring, because it was actually really hard to write…**

**I am sorry for taking a super long time to post. I've been going through quite a lot lately, both good and bad. Also, I'm trying to focus more on my original stories rather than my fanfictions. Don't worry! I have in no way given up on this story!**


	4. Flying Mind

Chapter Four: Flying Mind

**A/N HardyGal: Hey, look! Kenton's back!**

* * *

**POV: Kenton**

"…but when the Insecticons suddenly backed off, I got inspired by my proximity to the powercore, and did what I do best." Bulkhead smashed a fist into his palm.

"You trashed Megatron's ride like a rock star in a hotel room," said Miko, both hands raised in a 'rock-on' gesture.

Kenton tapped an index knuckle on her lips, humming thoughtfully. It had only been five days since General Bryce had offered Kenton the job of second liaison to the Autobots, and apparently a lot had happened between the Nemesis Prime incident and now. Bulkhead was just wrapping up his gripping account on how he had crippled the Decepticon warship, and Kenton had listened with genuine interest. And with a grave realization.

"Sir." Kenton spoke up, addressing Optimus Prime. "I know that I've only acted as your new liaison for a few days. I am not well associated with you, and I barely know enough about your enemies. All the same sir, I recognize a tactical advantage when I see one."

"Captain Kenton's right," said Arcee. "We should hit the 'Cons right now, while they're vulnerable."

"Megatron's warship may be grounded," said Ratchet. "But let's not forget that we remain vastly outnumbered, especially since he has added the Insecticon hive to his ranks."

Kenton had read up on all of Agent Fowler's reports in an attempt to familiarize herself with the different Decepticons. Besides Megatron and a few of his top lieutenants, there were also drones, or Vehicons, among his army. They were mainly cannon fodder from what Kenton could tell from the reports, but there were still a lot of them. Not only that, according to Bulkhead's adventurous account, Megatron now had a new and bestial addition to his army; a swarm of enormous bots known as Insecticons.

"Then maybe it's time for me to call in an air strike," suggested Agent Fowler, walking to the edge of the platform.

"Or for us to consider more extreme measures, Agent Fowler," Optimus Prime said grimly.

* * *

The Spark Extractor was a Cybertronian weapon built by the Decepticons, which was apparently designed to, well, extract sparks. To extract the very life out of any Cybertronian within its radius. This devastating weapon was in Bumblebee's hands at that very moment, as the Autobots prepared to launch a final attack on the Decepticons.

"Optimus," Ratchet said, turning from the computer as it beeped. "I'm detecting a massive energy spike at the Decepticon crash site. It appears to be Dark Energon."

This seemed to startle both bots and humans alike, but Kenton remained mildly confused. She only knew so much about Dark Energon from William's reports. "What does that mean?" she inquired.

"It means Megatron likely has another trick up his sleeve," said Arcee.

"We must attack now," Prime said determinedly. "Ratchet, activate the groundbridge."

The medic pulled the lever on a small (by bot standards) control unit, and the groundbridge powered up.

"Autobots," said Prime. "Transform and roll out!"

On their leader's command, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee transformed into their respective vehicular forms and drove through the 'bridge. Before Optimus could follow however, Fowler suddenly spoke up. "Hold on, Prime," he said. "If you are gonna deploy some kinda super weapon in a final showdown with the 'Cons, it's my job as a representative of planet Earth to bear witness."

Ratchet and Optimus exchanged a look.

"And mine as well, sir," Kenton said, stepping forward.

"Amelia-" Fowler started.

"William, I may have only acted as second representative to the Autobots for less than a week, but I am a representative nonetheless." Kenton crossed her arms, giving her 'look'. "It's my duty to bear witness, just as much as it is yours."

* * *

Agent Fowler and Captain Kenton came out of the groundbridge alongside the truck that was Optimus Prime. Prime transformed into bot form along with Bulkhead and Arcee, who were waiting for their leader as he arrived at their location. As the groundbridge closed, all thoughts of nausea were removed as from Kenton's mind as her eyes fixed on one thing floating in the sky above.

"Sweet Lady Liberty!" exclaimed Fowler.

"Mother of mine…" Kenton gasped.

It was an airship, but unlike any airship that Kenton had ever seen before. This one was enormous, larger than three football fields, and made entirely out of an unrecognizable dark metal. It went upwards from the bare plain, ascending smoothly into the sky, with no clear thrusters or wind blades to explain just how it was able to do so. Spikes protruded from the ship's body, and adding to its menacing appearance, purple lights glinted sinisterly from the dark metal, looking almost like eyes.

"Did they repair their ship so quickly?" said Kenton, getting over her initial shock at seeing this dark wonder in the sky.

"That's impossible!" Bulkhead said sincerely.

At that moment, several guns suddenly protruded out from the bottom of the ship.

"Bumblebee, now!" Optimus ordered.

The yellow and black Urbana drove out from behind a rock further down the plain. Immediately, the ship's guns began firing mercilessly on the little scout.

"Bulkhead, Arcee, draw their fire!" At Prime's command, the two spoken to charged determinedly towards the warship alongside their leader. This had the desired effect, as the guns now fired at the attacking bots, distracted from Bumblebee.

Kenton and Fowler stood behind a rock, watching the whole thing through military grade binoculars and listening to all that was being said through an earpiece. A red gun pulse landed at the base of their refuge, and Kenton glanced up from her binoculars for a moment. "Is this what it is like?" she said. "Being an Autobot liaison."

"Standing to the side as the 'Bots do most of the work?" said Fowler. "Pretty much."

The two humans watched as Bumblebee drove towards the Decepticon warship, the Spark Extractor undoubtedly within his interior. ::Once you launch the Spark Extractor,:: said Prime, speaking to the yellow bot. ::Be sure to clear its radius before it can activate.::

"Will the scout be alright?" said Kenton, not looking up from her binoculars. It was a mere inquiry, with no concern in her voice.

"He'll be fine," said Fowler. "By the way, I never asked. Why did General Bryce decide to make you a bonafide liaison?"

"I honestly do not want to talk about it at the moment," Kenton said, a subtle bite in her voice.

Fowler frowned at her. "Why? Does it have something to do with Prime?"

"Y- _No_." Kenton shook her head agitatedly, eyes still pressed against the binoculars.

"Does General Bryce _still_ not trust the 'Bots?" Fowler demanded. "Even after every-"

"No! I mean-" Kenton glared at the agent frustratedly. "It doesn't matter right now!"

Bumblebee transformed into bipedal mode, Spark Extractor in hand. The yellow scout ran towards the warship, lifting the weapon in preparation to throw it.

"Yeah, it does matter!" Fowler retorted. "The bots trust you, Amelia!"

"I _know_ they do!" Kenton snapped. "And I don't want to do _anything_ to betray that trust!"

"Then why are you-?"

Suddenly, a purple beam originating from the warship struck Bumblebee. He fell, unmoving.

"Bumblebee!" Optimus called out of concern for the younger bot.

Fowler and Kenton were both pulled from their heated conversation, shocked at what had just happened. They watched, each gripping their individual binoculars tightly, as Arcee rushed forward and retrieved the Spark Extractor. No sooner had she done so, the purple beam struck her as well, and the small bot fell. Bulkhead was third to pick up the weapon, and he drew his arm back, ready to throw it. The purple beam struck him too, and the green bot stood frozen in his throwing position, Spark Extractor still in hand.

Now the last bot standing, Optimus Prime rushed over to grab the Spark Extractor. Dodging the purple beam as it turned onto him, Prime took the weapon from Bulkhead's frozen hand and leapt into the air to throw it at the warship. The purple beam fired on him again, and this time it did not miss. Struck in midair, the stiff frame of Optimus Prime fell from the sky, sending a shockwave through the ground as he landed.

"Heavens," Kenton breathed, putting down her binoculars. She and Fowler looked up as the Decepticon warship loomed above, the hull guns now aiming at them.

"So much for Christmas in Fiji," Fowler commented grimly.

Before the two humans could even tense however, the guns were pulled back into the ship. "Huh?" Both Fowler and Kenton voiced their surprise at this action.

The warship then turned and floated away slowly. As Fowler contacted the base, Kenton walked forward, evaluating the retreating warship with a frown.

"Team down," said Fowler. "Requesting med-evac."

"They didn't stop to collect their spoils," Kenton murmured. "Or even ensure that the job was done." She turned to Fowler. "The Autobots aren't dead, are they?"

"I don't know," Fowler said darkly.

* * *

It took awhile, but Ratchet was able to retrieve each frozen Autobot and bring them back to base. It was a bizarre sight, each bot standing in their stiff positions like wax statues in a museum. As Ratchet scanned his comrades, Fowler and Kenton were tracking the warship, while the kids waited anxiously for the medic's diagnosis.

"They're alive," Ratchet said finally, examining the scans on a computer. "But I've never encountered this form of stasis lock."

"That is good news," Kenton said, she and Fowler approaching Ratchet on the platform. "And we found the bad news."

"The 'Cons are crossing the Atlantic," said Fowler. "Making a beeline for North America."

"Wait, we can track them?" Jack said in surprise.

"Why aren't they cloaked, like usual?" asked Raf.

"None of this makes a lick'a sense," Fowler said, frustrated. "They had us in the crosshairs, but the 'Cons just took off."

"They even bailed on that Spark Extractor thingy," Miko added.

"It doesn't match the Decepticon's established MO," Kenton muttered.

"Well, if the ship isn't cloaked," Jack said suddenly. "Maybe the communications relay is open."

"Ep, ep!" Ratchet interrupted sharply. "Are you suggesting that we just… _call_ Megatron? And _ask_ him what's happening up there?"

The kids spread their hands with a shrug. Ratchet turned on the adults. Fowler mimicked the kids' action. After a moment, Kenton did the same. Ratchet scoffed.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt to try," Kenton pointed out.

"I mean, what else do we have to do?" Jack said.

Ratchet sighed, rolling his optics as he turned to the computer. Muttering sullenly under his breath, the medic activated the comm. link and attempted to reach out to the Decepticon warship. "Autobot Outpost Omega One to Decepticon warship… Megatron, please respond."

After a moment of silence, Miko said, "Maybe you should use the magic word again."

"Ah, ep, ep!" Ratchet snapped, before turning back to the computer. "Autobot base attempting to contact Decepticon warship… Megatron, respond." Another moment of silence, and the kids started glancing at each other. "I can practically sense your doubt," the Autobot medic said in annoyance. "Don't forget that this was _your_ idea."

"We don't doubt anything, Ratchet," Kenton said gently. "Try again."

With a sigh, Ratchet repeated, "Autobot Outpost Omega One to Decepticon warship. Megatron…"

Finally, the call was answered. The voice that spoke was low and masculine, and monstrous in quality. It resonated through the base, and through the bodies of the humans standing nearby. ::Megatron has been relieved of his command.::

"Who is this?" Ratchet demanded.

_::Who is _this_?::_ the voice retorted.

"Have you taken control of the Decepticon vessel?" Ratchet asked.

_::I _am_ the vessel.::_ The humans all glanced at each other in surprise, and the voice continued. _::Any Cybertronian who interferes with my mission will be neutralized.::_

The computer's regular green tinted screens were replaced by images. Each image appeared to be showing the inside of the Decepticon warship, as well as the bots inside. At first it looked as though these were only still images - every bot in every image appeared to be frozen in movement. But is was soon evident that this was, in fact, a live feed of what was currently going on in the warship. Each and every single inhabitant on the Decepticon vessel was indeed frozen. Exactly like the Autobots.

"What mission?" said Ratchet, seeming thus far unfazed as the computer returned to its usual green screens.

_::Priority one: decrypt Iacon database and recover Decepticon technology.::_

"For what purpose?"

The voice did not answer, and after a few seconds, the communication link was cut.

There was a moment of contemplative silence among the beings standing in the Autobot base. A moment aptly interrupted by Miko. "It hung up? Rude!"

"_Rude_?" Fowler echoed incredulously. "There's a giant spaceship flying around, collecting Decepticon weapons of mass destruction!"

"A giant spaceship filled with neutralized Decepticons," Jack pointed out.

"Point?"

"This could be our only chance to slip aboard and download the Iacon database."

"So Optimus can decode it!" said Raf.

"Ingenious," Ratchet exclaimed. "I will infiltrate the Decepticon warship."

"_Not_ ingenious," Jack said quickly. "You saw what it did to the Decepticons."

"And Megatron too!" Raf added.

"_And_ Team Prime!" said Miko, throwing her two cents in.

"But," Fowler cut in. "That tub had Kenton and I dead to rights, and _we're_ still breathin'."

Jack thought about it. "The ship may be blind to humans…"

"If that's true, then we stand a better chance getting that information than any bot," said Kenton. "No offense to you, Ratchet." The medic huffed.

"Who is 'we'?" Fowler demanded.

Kenton sighed in annoyance, turning on her fellow liaison. "You get this in your head, William: whatever ridiculously dangerous stunt you're planning to pull, I will either be stopping you _or_ doing it right along with you. You're planning to infiltrate a Decepticon warship? Well, I'm not going to stop you. But you sure as anything are not going to stop me from accompanying you."

Fowler rolled his eyes in apparent frustration. "Fine. What do you say, Doc?" he asked, turning to the Autobot medic.

Ratchet sighed. "Very well, Agent Fowler. But at the first sign of trouble, I am bridging you and Captain Kenton right back here…!" The old bot turned back towards the computer, pulling out what looked like a large thumb drive. "Now, in order to download the database, you will need a compatible transfer drive." He held out the drive towards Agent Fowler.

"A what?" the agent said confusedly, taking the large drive in his hands.

"He'll also need tech support," said Raf.

"And backup," Miko added.

"Oh-ho, no," Kenton cut in firmly. "You three are most definitely _not_ accompanying us."

"Oh, come on! Why not?" Miko demanded. "_You're_ going!"

"That's different. I'm a trained soldier, and I will be more than enough to act as Agent Fowler's backup."

"As true as that may be, Captain Kenton," said Ratchet. "The fact of the matter is that neither you nor Agent Fowler know anything about Cybertronian technology. You _will_ need on-site tech support, a thing that Rafael is more than capable of delivering."

"And with all due respect, Captain Kenton," said Jack. "We have all been through a lot more than you have when it comes to the Decepticons."

"Regardless, I can't very well risk the lives of teenagers," Kenton said shortly.

"Amelia," Fowler said, cutting into the conversation. "Trust me when I say that these kids are more than capable of handling themselves just fine."

"I don't care," Kenton hissed. "They're just kids-"

"Hey!" Miko exclaimed indignantly.

"-and I can't, in all good conscience, allow them to risk their lives!"

"What makes you think they haven't already?" Fowler retorted.

Kenton's face darkened slightly. "That is hardly helping your case, William."

"That doesn't matter! Look, I understand your concerns. I'd being lying if I said I haven't had them too! But the fact of the matter is, these kids have gone through more in a few months than most people go through in a lifetime. With that in mind, you really think that they won't get through this just like they've gone through everything else?"

Kenton pursed her lips stubbornly, glancing at Jack, Raf, and Miko. The first two delivered a tentative wave, while the latter gave a confident thumbs up.

"Captain," said Fowler. "Trust me. These kids are-"

Kenton thrust a stiff finger in his face. "Don't make me regret having not reported this to General Bryce, William," she said, voice low and containing a dangerous note. Her finger swiftly transferred from Fowler to the kids. "You three had better not get killed on my watch."

* * *

The five humans walked through the large green portal and into the Decepticon warship. Fowler tapped the earpiece he had on. "Fowler to base. We're in."

::Good,:: said Ratchet. ::Their data core should be accessible from any console.::

Kenton looked around with something akin to awe as they walked down the enormous hallway. Numerous faceless bots stood frozen in place, looking as though they were trying to defend themselves. The corridor was dark, lit only by sickly purple lighting. This, combined with the frozen bots and the utter quietness, created a very eerie and tense atmosphere.

The humans turned a corner, and Raf gulped. "H-here's one," he said timorously.

At the far end of the corridor, there was a console. Slumped over the console was a red Decepticon.

Kenton instinctively felt for her handgun. "Proceed carefully," she said. Miko instantly went darting down the hall towards the red bot. "Miko!"

"Miko, be careful!" Jack called, voice hushed.

Japanese girl ignored both of them, jogging right up to the bot and pounding a fist on his leg. There was no response. "Doc Knock is knocked out," she said with a grin.

Kenton sighed, removing her hand from her weapon as she, Fowler, Jack, and Raf caught up with Miko.

Staring up at the red screen of the console, Raf said, "Look, the ship's decoded two sets of Iacon coordinates." As if on cue, the computer beeped and a third set of Cybertronian lettering appeared underneath the first two sets. "Three! Let's rip and run!"

Both the preteen and Agent Fowler began to climb up to the console, using the frozen chassis of the red bot as a ladder. With Fowler helping Raf, the two were soon standing on top of the console.

"Hurry," Kenton said, looking around warily. "The sooner we get out of here the better."

::I concur with Captain Kenton,:: Ratchet said through the earpieces. ::We don't know for sure if the ship will remain blind to organic lifeforms.::

Raf pointed out the drive port to Agent Fowler, who plugged the thumb drive into it. Suddenly, the console beeped. The first set of coordinates flashed, and one of the screens displayed the coordinates alongside a world map, on which the coordinates pointed towards a specific point in North America.

"Um, why is the warship heading for Manhattan?" said Jack.

Rag examined the world map for a moment. "Because that's where the first set of coordinates are located."

"What would a relic from Cybertron be doing in the Big Apple?" said Fowler, speaking to Ratchet through the earpiece.

::The Iacon relics landed on Earth eons ago, Agent Fowler. Long before the city was built atop it.::

"Which means if the ship wants this one, it may have to move some buildings out of the way," Jack said grimly.

Kenton muttered a curse, and carefully climbed the red bot in order to stand atop the console alongside Agent Fowler. Jack and Miko soon followed.

"Our mission just got complicated," said Fowler. "How do we deter this ship?"

::I would advice disabling the navigation module,:: said Ratchet. ::Call up the main navigation menu!::

"There!" Raf pointed at a set of controls.

Fowler placed a hand on the boy's chest before he could rush forward. "Step aside son," the agent said, effectively asserting himself as the one to operate the controls.

This decision proved to be fortunate for Rafael's wellbeing, for as soon as he placed his hand on the controls, Fowler stiffened with a cry, and Kenton could hear the sound of electricity popping.

"Agent Fowler!" Jack exclaimed. The four remaining humans rushed over to assist the agent, but Fowler fell from atop the console before they could reach him.

"William?" Kenton called down. "Are you alright?"

Fowler groaned, and fell limp. He was unconscious.

_"System access detected."_ The monstrous voice of the ship resonated through the corridors. _"Interference will not be tolerated."_

"There!" Raf pointed upwards. A camera lowered from the ceiling, and began rotating as it searched for those who had tried to access its system.

_"Reveal yourself,"_ said the voice. The camera continued to search for the intruders, and continued to pass over the humans standing there.

"It's doesn't see us," Miko said excitedly.

::Yet,:: Ratchet put in grimly. ::The ship must not be searching for carbon-based lifeforms. But once it widens its search parameters…::

"We're toast," Raf finished pessimistically.

Kenton, who stood in front of the kids, slowly reached for her gun.

::I'm bridging you back!:: said Ratchet.

"No," Jack said firmly. "There are millions of lives at stake in New York. And we four are currently the only ones who can do anything about it." The teenager jumped down from the console, crouching beside the unconscious Agent Fowler. Kenton quickly followed.

::You're out of your element Jack,:: the medic persisted. ::These readings, the ship's rapid recovery, all point to the fact that Megatron employed Dark Energon to repair it!::

"Hold on," said Jack, as Raf and Miko jumped down from the console to join him. "If you're saying the ship is fueled by Dark Energon, we can dump it right?"

Ratchet hummed, the idea seeming to impress him. When he spoke, he said, ::You'll need to reverse the warship's energon infuser. Follow the main overhead conduits. They'll lead you to the powercore.::

The kids quickly rushed down the hallway. "Wait a minute…!" Kenton called sharply, standing up from where she had been crouching beside Fowler.

"C'mon, cap!" Miko called back, gesturing for Kenton to follow. "You don't wanna fall behind!"

Kenton grit her teeth, looking between the kids and Agent Fowler. With a groan and a roll of her eyes, Kenton raced after the three teenagers.

* * *

They looked like boxes. Enormous cubes with glowing marks on them, piled one on top of the other, creating towers. The four humans slowed their jog as they approached said towers. Kenton planned to take the lead as they walked between the cubes, but Jack beat her to it. The captain had to admit, she admired the boy's unwavering confidence.

The group walked among the cubes, and soon made it to the powercore. There, they stopped dead, for someone was already there: an enormous silver bot with a spiked chassis, and one hand on a lever attached to the powercore. He was frozen, just like the others, mouth and purple optics wide with shock.

"Megatron I presume," said Kenton.

Miko nodded. "Yep."

"Looks like he had the same idea," said Jack.

"Then we're on the right track," Rafael said excitedly.

"Ratchet," Kenton said through her earpiece. "We're at the powercore. How do we flush it?"

::I hear you, captain," the medic replied. ::The energon ejection valve can only be operated manually.::

"_Manually_?" the kids exclaimed.

All eyes turned towards the large silver mech.

"Give me a boost," Jack said after a moment of stunned silence.

Kenton was quick to protest. "Wait, Jack-"

"Captain Kenton…" Jack turned on the adult with something akin to frustration. "I can handle this."

Kenton narrowed her eyes, ready to protest again. But several seconds passed and no sound of protest came. Finally, Kenton closed her mouth and stepped back without single word of objection.

With a little help from Kenton, Raf, and Miko, Jack began to climb up Megatron's enormous chassis. Reaching the shoulder, Jack glanced briefly at Megatron's frozen face, before steadily sliding down the arm that lead to the lever and jumping onto the console. As Jack began to push against the bot's spiked servo, and by extension the lever it gripped, a familiar voice again resonated through the warship.

_"I am infested with alien lifeforms!"_

Kenton looked upward sharply. Above them hung a dormant claw structure, a machine undoubtedly meant to handle the cubes. In the middle of the claw was a red camera lens, which was currently directed at Kenton and the children standing beside her.

"Uh oh," said Miko, also spying the claw. "We just got made."

Kenton backed away slowly, gesturing for Miko and Raf to do the same as she reached for her handgun. The claw made a shuddering movement, and darted for the three humans below. Grabbing Raf and Miko by the shoulders, Kenton dove aside, leaving the claw to hit the ground.

"Go, go!" Kenton shouted. The two kids were quick to obey, scrambling to their feet and running for the towers of cubes. The army captain rolled onto her back, aiming her handgun, just in time to see the claw lunge down at her. A gunshot immediately resonated throughout the room, startling every conscious being within earshot.

While Kenton's bullet didn't appear to have damaged it, her action caused the claw to recoil sharply, giving the woman enough time to get to her feet and run after Raf and Miko. Handgun at the ready, Kenton sprinted silently between the towers of cubes, searching worriedly for the two children. One of the towers collapsed, undoubtedly toppled by the claw, drawing a small cry of surprise from the army captain. Quickly composing herself, Kenton ran between the toppled cubes, hearing the claw continue to push the large boxes aside in an effort to find the humans hiding among them.

"Captain Kenton!" Raf cried. The one called turned sharply to see both he and Miko cornered, backed up against the towers of boxes, their eyes fixed on something above them. Kenton rushed over, planting herself in front of the two kids, handgun aimed upward.

The claw moved a few boxes aside before directing its gaze on the three humans cornered below it, the monstrous voice declaring, "All parasites will be eradicated!"

"Hey!" Jack shouted. "Over here!"

The claw turned itself towards the tall teenager, pincers widening in apparent rage. Kenton had to contain a dismayed groan.

"Jack, no!" Raf cried.

"Run for it!" Miko exclaimed.

"Get out of there!" Kenton shouted.

Jack reacted accordingly, jumping aside as the claw lunged at him. "Too slow!" He ran, but not for long as the claw cut off his way of escape.

As Jack stood frozen before the claw, Kenton ran out from behind the boxes, handgun aimed at the claw. "No, get back!" she snapped as Miko and Raf tried to follow her. "Jack, get down!"

"No, captain, don't!" Jack held up a firm, protesting hand.

"_What_?" Barely a second after Kenton's incredulous shout, the claw lunged for the teenager.

Jack managed to dove between the claws pincers, causing the claw to miss him and instead hit the posterior of Megatron's frozen chassis. The claw quickly pulled away, but the damage that Jack no doubt intended had been done - the frozen Decepticon tipped backwards, the weight of his body allowing his stiff hand to pull on the lever.

Unfortunately, Megatron's weight also caused his stiff fingers to be pried from the lever, and his body fell back, right towards where Jack was standing. The teenager made to turn and run, but he was instantly tackled by Kenton. The two of them landed beside Megatron's stiff body, just as it hit the ground with a crash. As both the teenager and the army captain picked themselves up, the purple liquid in the pipes attached to the power core was swiftly replaced by liquid of brilliant blue, signifying the drainage of the Dark Energon.

_"Critical power drain,"_ declared the warship. _"I am…"_ The claw lunged at Jack and Kenton, both of whom raised their arms defensively. _"…in…"_ The claw stopped short of grabbing them, pulling away jerkily. _"…command."_ It turned towards the power core, its movement becoming as slow as the voice that spoke. _"Prepare to be… neutralized."_ Finally, the claw halted all movement, its pincers barely touching the purple tinted cube inserted in the power core. Said cube was ejected, and the limp claw was pulled away.

"That was… impressive," Kenton gasped, a little breathless. Miko and Raf ran over to join her and Jack.

"Thanks," said the latter, equally breathless. "And thanks for not shooting me."

Suddenly, Megatron's stiff form became limp, startling the four humans standing by. The enormous Decepticon released a deep groan. Kenton and the kids backed away slowly.

"Run," Jack ordered, and run they did.

* * *

As the four of them sprinted down the enormous corridors, all the faceless bots that had been standing frozen now began to move.

"Ratchet!" Jack called through his earpiece. "Fire up the groundbridge!"

There was a high sense of urgency - Kenton knew that if they were caught by the Decepticons, the consequences would be highly undesirable. However, they couldn't just up and leave yet, for William was still lying unconscious by the console, and said console still held the drive that had hopefully downloaded the Iacon database by now.

Agent Fowler appeared to just be coming to as Kenton and the kids ran up to the console. Miko got to him first, throwing the dazed agent's arm over her shoulder. "On your feet, soldier," she said encouragingly, pulling him upright.

Fowler groaned and began to sing in a slurred voice. "…and beavers and ducks and walnuts and grandma…" Surprised, Miko let the agent fall back on his face.

Just then, the console beeped. The three coordinates were still on screen, plus one more. They all flashed white.

"That's all that's been downloaded?" Jack exclaimed incredulously.

"The Iacon file must be huge," said Raf.

"We can't worry about that now," Kenton said sternly, helping Fowler to his feet again. "We have to get out of here, ASAP."

As if on cue, the groundbridge appeared behind them, drawing an enthusiastic, "Suh-_weet_!" from Miko, who quickly helped Kenton support Fowler. Both they and Raf walked towards the groundbridge.

It didn't take long for Kenton to realize that someone was missing, but Raf beat her to the inquiry: "Jack?"

The dark headed teenager was still standing before the console, the undeterred determination clear in his body language. "Get Fowler outta here."

Kenton quickly allowed Fowler's arm to slip from her shoulder and placed it on Raf's. Giving him and Miko an encouraging shove towards the groundbridge, Kenton then turned to face Jack. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Something's better than nothing," said Jack. He started climbing the chassis of the red bot, who by some miracle had not yet awoken. "I'm not leaving without that drive."

"Jack," Kenton said exasperatedly, climbing up after him. "If this is about wanting to prove yourself, I can assure you-"

"This isn't about proving myself!" Jack scrambled onto the console, Kenton coming up right behind him. "We came here on a mission, and I have to complete it."

As Jack pulled at the drive, a movement caught Kenton's eye, and she turned. The previously frozen red bot now stood straight, crimson eyes glinting maliciously and mouth pulled back in a sadistic grin. Acting on instinct, Kenton pulled out her handgun and fired directly into the bot's white faceplates. The bot fell back with a shout - of pain, anger, or surprise, Kenton didn't know. Jack turned sharply, momentarily distracted from his task.

The red Decepticon turned to glare at Kenton, clawed servo covering one side of his faceplates. "That _hurt_," he growled.

"Good," Kenton retorted.

The Decepticon approached the console, causing Kenton and Jack to back-step, and unfortunately trip. Kenton fired a few more shots, but the bullets just rebounded off of the red chassis. The bot grit his teeth into something resembling both a furious grimace and a bitter smile. Now that his hand was lowered, Kenton could see a black mark on the otherwise white features, signifying where her bullet had hit.

"I'm afraid that your little toy won't do much damage to anything more than my cosmetics," the bot said, his vocals almost pleasant, but certainly not lacking a dangerous edge. He raised his right servo and transformed it into an enormous spinning drill, which he directed at the two humans on the console. "My toys on the other hand, might just do something a little more… severe." He slowly brought the drill closer, that mad grin returning. "Say 'ahh'."

"I'm here to offer a second opinion."

The red bot turned to see who had spoken, only to be floored by a stiff punch to his already marred faceplates.

"Ratchet!" Jack exclaimed, standing straight.

"Come!" the medic said, voice sharp but hands gentle as he picked up Jack.

Kenton jumped to her feet before Ratchet could pick her up. "I'm fine," she said, and jumped down from the console. "Just take the drive."

Ratchet rolled his optics, muttering something about how he wasn't planning to leave the drive anyway, and plucked the drive from the console. Now with both the drive and Jack in hand, Ratchet ran back into the still open groundbridge. Kenton didn't fall behind, and she too ran through the groundbridge.

"Welcome back," said Arcee.

Kenton looked around. They were back in the Autobot base, and the Autobots themselves - Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Arcee - stood unfrozen, appearing to have been waiting for their return.

Jack was set down on the ground beside Kenton. "Good to be back," he said with a wry grin.

"Jack!" Miko cried. She and Raf waved from on top of one of the platforms, before running down the stairs. In turn, Jack ran towards them and the three kids met midway up the steps, Miko and Raf tackling the older teenager in a hug.

"You are very lucky that I arrived when I did," Ratchet said sternly, walking past the two humans and towards the computer. "A second or two longer, and you and Captain Kenton would have been nothing more than a stain on Knock Out's medical table."

"_What_?" Arcee said sharply.

"But at least we got the drive," Jack pointed out, ignoring his partner and managing to get both Miko and Raf to stop hugging him. "And besides, I think that Captain Kenton could've handled the mad doc."

Kenton cast him a small, appreciative smile, which he returned.

"Whatever the consequences may have been," said Prime, looking down at the four humans now gathered on the platform. "I must commend our human allies for their bravery and selflessness."

"I believe I speak for all of us when I say…" Kenton saluted. "…anytime, sir."

"Yeah," Miko agreed. "What she said."

"Well, let us see exactly what your bravery and selflessness got us," said Ratchet, plugging the drive into the Autobot computer.

"Not much," Raf said disappointedly. "The database must've been too big for the drive to hold."

The coordinate sets that had been downloaded were displayed on the screens, and Ratchet actually smiled a little. "I wouldn't call this 'not much'. The download of the Iacon database may have been incomplete," he said. "But we now posses four sets of coordinates decoded by the ship."

"Then we must act quickly," said Prime. "For Megatron possesses the same four sets, and he will not hesitate to obtain the potential doomsday devices, which lie at the site of each."

**A/N HardyGal: Optimus should've said "...the potential doomsday devices****_ that_**** lie at the site of each." Grammatically, it's more satisfying. Also, writing out this episode gave me a new sense of respect for Jack. He was just kind of 'meh' for me until now.**

**I hope that this chapter wasn't a disappointment, unlike the last one. Again, like I said in my apology update (which is deleted by now), I am deeply sorry for that. I will not be deleting the Armada chapter, though. I am a bit of a completionist, so I can't write chapters based off of episodes unless I write a chapter for every episode (starting from the episode of my choice and moving on from there). Skipping an episode would leave me writhing uncomfortably for days. **

**By the way, there is something I need help with, and I need said help from all the fans of this fic. Due to the fact that there isn't too much human insertable action in Season Three, I may or may not add a bot OC when Season Three comes around. There's a poll on my profile that has more information. Please vote on it? Thanks. :3**

**Anyhoo, coming up next, the Four T episodes! Yeah, that's going to be a pain in the butt.**


	5. Tunnel Vis, Triangulation, Triage, Tox

Chapter Five: Tunnel Vision, Triangulation, Triage, Toxicity

**A/N HardyGal: THERE IS A POLL ON MY PROFILE ESPECIALLY FOR MY KENTON FANS! PLEASE VOTE ON IT! Ok, now onto the chapter.**

* * *

**POV: Kenton**

"If we are to have any hope of recovering the Iacon relics before the Decepticons do," said Prime. "We must divide our resources."

"But Optimus," said Ratchet. "When it comes to numbers, we are already at a grave disadvantage."

Optimus Prime turned to the medic. "Under the circumstances, swiftness of action is paramount. This is one race that we absolutely cannot afford to lose."

"Sir," Kenton spoke up. "I understand how important it is that you reach these relics before the Decepticons. But may I remind you that one of those said relics is buried in New York City…"

"Which is still being approached by the Decepticon warship," said Jack, completing Kenton's thought.

"Captain Kenton," Prime said readily. "We are prepared to defend the humans from any threat the Decepticons may present, even if it means revealing our existence to the rest of the world."

"But what about all the civilians?" Raf pointed out anxiously. "They might get caught in the crossfire."

"Both myself and Agent Fowler have some powerful connections," said Kenton. "With just a couple phone calls I can have the city evacuated. Though that in itself could take days. Days that we can't afford."

"Guess we're just gonna have to watch our step," Arcee said grimly.

A beep turned everyone's attention towards the computer, which Ratchet approached. "Huh," he muttered, examining a blip on the computer screen. "Here's a twist. It would appear that the Decepticons have retreated from Manhattan."

"They just… up and left?" said Arcee, surprised.

"It is more likely that Megatron has already set course for the second set of coordinates, having dispatched a unit to this relic's underground location," Prime deduced.

Arcee spoke again, this time with skepticism. "Without busting up a city block to get to it?"

"They used subway tunnels," Jack said, sounding absolutely certain. "New York has a whole network of them running beneath the city."

Kenton sighed, somewhat relieved. "Well, that's certainly better than the alternative."

"Since the human population no longer seems to be directly threatened," said Prime. "Maintaining our disguise will be necessary. Arcee. Bumblebee." The two bots turned in response to their designations. "You are the best choices to navigate through such a densely populated area."

"Optimus," Jack cut in. "New York has more than eight million people. The odds of being spotted by at least one of them are pretty high. Even if they are headed underground."

"Where are you going with this?" Arcee inquired.

"You're gonna need a face-man."

Prime remained silent, possibly indicating that he was unsure what Jack meant by 'face-man'. Jack seemed to realize this, and continued. "Someone who can speak on their behalf. A _human_ to run interference if their cover gets blown."

"Are you volunteering, Jack?" Kenton asked.

This seemed to irk Miko, who quickly piped up. "Well, _I've_ actually _been_ in subway stations. I grew up in a major metropolis, unlike Mr. I've-Never-Been-Outside-Jasper-Nevada."

"I _have_ been to Cybertron," Jack countered.

"Cybertron doesn't have _subways_!" Miko paused. "Does it?"

"Agent Fowler's field experience makes him our best candidate," Prime concluded. As he turned to look at the gurney-ridden agent, Fowler thrust a fist into the air - "Blablanana-fish!" - and then dropped it limply.

"If he weren't still recovering from his encounter with the Decepticon warship," Ratchet pointed out.

"Which _we_ survived," Miko said proudly. "Without incident."

"In which case, I suggest that Captain Kenton ought to accompany Arcee and Bumblebee," Ratchet continued, fixing the Japanese girl with a stern look.

"Aw, come _on_!" Miko stomped her foot.

"Very well," Prime started. "Captain Kenton-"

"Sir, may I say something?" Kenton cut in, then continued. "While I'm flattered that you consider me a valuable asset, the culture of New York City renders any cover story coming from someone in a US army uniform concerning robots from outer-space as… a clear conspiracy. If your cover _is_ blown, any attempts I might make to quell media attention will most likely only add fuel to the fire."

"What is your point, captain?" said Prime.

"Sometimes all it takes to cover something up are the trustworthy claims of a teenager," Kenton said with a small smile.

Prime looked from Kenton to Jack and Miko, who were smiling enticingly. Whatever inner battle the Autobot leader may have been fighting ended within seconds, and he said, "Very well. Miko and Jack will accompany Arcee and Bumblebee."

"Yes!" Miko lifted a triumphant fist.

As Bumblebee and Arcee exchanged looks, Optimus turned to Ratchet, saying, "Initiate transport, and triangulate coordinates of the other three relics."

Jack gave Kenton a quick pat on the shoulder - "Thanks, captain." - before climbing down the platform ladder, a motorcycle helmet under his arm.

Arcee shrugged. "Let's get this show on the road." She and Bumblebee transformed and approached the groundbridge.

Miko quickly bumped past Kenton - "See you later, cap!" - and slid down the ladder.

"Hey," Bulkhead said smilingly, catching the girl's attention. "That was some trick, Miko."

Miko smiled back proudly. "You mean swiping intel from right under Megatron's nose? Just doing my part for Team Prime!" Bumblebee beeped his horn impatiently, opening his passenger door. "Ooh, gotta go, Bulk! Tell ya all about it when we get back! Wait up!" She ran over to the idling Urbana and climbed in through the open door.

"Take care of her, 'Bee!" Bulkhead said, while Raf simultaneously called, "Take care of him, Miko!"

The groundbridge was opened, and Arcee, Bumblebee, and their human companions sped on through.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," said Kenton. "I can almost guarantee that they're just as concerned about you, if not more." She chuckled, rapping Bulkhead on the shoulder.

"Yeah, but I'm a bonafide metal robot," said Bulkhead, rapping his own chestplates to prove his point. "Not much can get through this hide."

"Bulkhead," said Optimus, drawing said Autobot's attention to him. "Prepare for departure."

"You are headed for the equator," said Ratchet.

"I'll prep for tropical weather…" Bulkhead struck a defensive stance. "…Wrecker style."

"Well, then take care of _yourself_," Kenton said wryly. "Wrecker."

Bulkhead smirked. "Like I said, not much can get through hide. Open up that 'bridge."

Ratchet obliged, and the groundbridge generator fired up. As Bulkhead prepared to go through, Prime said, "Rafael, Captain Kenton, and Agent Fowler will be your communications and transportation hub."

Raf sent a thumbs up and Kenton delivered a casual salute. Agent Fowler, still gurney-ridden, lifted his arm into the air. "I can has cheeseburger!" He dropped it with a grunt.

"Communications, huh?" With that dry comment, Bulkhead went on through the groundbridge.

Prime paraphrased Kenton's words from before: "Be on your guard, Bulkhead." Once the groundbridge closed behind the Wrecker, Optimus turned to Raf. "Rafael, lock onto the last remaining coordinates. I will embark for the Antarctic. As for you old friend…" He turned to Ratchet. "I would prefer that you have company on your mission."

"No one is left to join me, Optimus," Ratchet pointed out, looking about the base to prove his point. "Even_ if_ Agent Fowler were alert…"

Said agent groaned and lifted his head slightly. "Who's your huggie buggie…?" He promptly fell back into unconsciousness.

"…he's human."

"I was considering the only remaining Autobot alternative on this planet," said Optimus.

"Wait…" Kenton pulled back from where she had been observing the remaining coordinates on Rafael's computer and turned to Optimus in surprise. "Another Autobot?"

Ratchet's optics had already widened at Prime's words, and he sputtered disbelievingly. "You can't be serious. Wheeljack is insubordinate! A ruffian! …Besides, he's Bulkhead's partner."

"Agent Fowler never mentioned a 'Wheeljack' among your ranks," Kenton pressed, determined not to be ignored on this point. "Is he a rogue?"

"Close to it," Ratchet huffed. "Wheeljack is what you would call a loner. He has little to no respect for authority and has made it quite clear that he does not wish to collaborate with Team Prime." He looked pointedly at Optimus while saying this.

"While Wheeljack does prefer the life of a nomad," the Prime admitted. "He nonetheless remains a loyal Autobot. I have no doubt that, if needed, he will accept our call for assistance."

Ratchet continued to protest. "Perhaps, but what possible use could he serve, other than to get in my way?"

"Your expertise is scientific, but Wheeljack is a highly capable warrior. You would be wise to welcome the temporary alliance." Prime's voice and countenance allowed no room for argument. Ratchet sighed, pinching the area between his optics.

"Sir," Kenton broke in, speaking to the Prime. "With your permission, I would like to accompany Ratchet on his mission."

The Autobot medic started, and Prime said, "Captain Kenton, if you are determined to play a part in this mission, your safety cannot be guaranteed."

Kenton nodded. "Understood, sir. But if you'll remember, the safety of Jack and Miko is likewise shaky at best. Unlike them, however, I'm a well equipped US soldier. Even if I'm human, I can take care of myself just fine."

"You refused the mission Jack and Miko went on," said Ratchet. "Why join this one?"

"I refused the first given mission for the sake of the mission itself," Kenton reminded him. "And…" She coughed, feeling suddenly embarrassed. "…even though I am second liaison to the Autobots, I have yet to see how you work on the field. Which would be an interesting thing to put on my report, if you don't mind me saying so, sir."

It seemed to Kenton that the following silence was going on too long, and just as she was about to withdraw her offer, Prime said, "Very well. If Ratchet accepts, you may accompany him on his mission."

"Oh, I'll accept," Ratchet said resignedly. "Besides, I think I'll need some civil company on this mission."

* * *

With this matter out of the way, Optimus was 'bridged to his location, Ratchet and Kenton walking through their own groundbridge not long after. Kenton was getting used to this form of transportation, and she felt little to no nausea as she stepped out into a clear-skied forest. Waiting for them was robust-looking bot, colored white, red, and green, who smirked when he saw Ratchet.

"The boss thought you needed backup, huh?" he said, vocals low and relaxed.

Ratchet looked as though he had swallowed something bitter. "If you must know, Optimus feels strongly that _you_ require supervision." He jabbed a digit at the bot for emphasis.

"And who's this?" The bot raised a thick optic ridge at Kenton. "Some extra muscle?"

Kenton couldn't hold back a small smirk. "You must be Wheeljack. I've been hearing some interesting things about you quite recently."

"All good stuff, I hope. But that doesn't answer my question."

She delivered a casual salute, still smirking. "Captain Amelia Kenton of the US Army. I look forward to seeing how you work on the field."

Wheeljack turned his raised eye ridge towards Ratchet. "Don't know why you need me, Doc. Seems like you have all the backup you need right here."

The bitter look on Ratchet's face only deepened. "As a human," he said forcefully. "Captain Kenton's safety takes precedence above all else. You had best keep that in mind while on this mission, Wheejack. Even if Captain Kenton weren't present, we can't afford one of your shenanigans."

"I'll be sure to be on my best behavior, Doc," Wheeljack promised, his careless vocals not adding much weight to the words.

Ratchet groaned in annoyance. "Please don't call me Doc!"

"Whatever you say, sunshine."

Obviously this passive-aggressive reply did nothing to calm Ratchet, who released a long-suffering sigh. One thing was quite clear to Kenton though: this mission was going to be rather interesting.

"So," she said, in an effort to distract from Ratchet's growing displeasure. "This is your… ship?" Kenton gestured to what she assumed to be a Cybertronian aerial vehicle, sitting dormant behind Wheeljack.

"The Jackhammer," the aforementioned bot said with a nod, rapping his knuckles against what Kenton assumed to be a wing. "Yeah, she may be a piece of scrap, but she gets you where you need to go."

Kenton took a step back so as to get a better look at what she perceived to be an enormous ship. It looked like, in her frank opinion, a flattened rectangle with a windshield and guns. The things that she assumed were wings looked like flattened blaster cannons, and were attached parallel to either side of the ship. Red streaks jumped out from the silver grey paint job.

"Strange design," she said slowly.

"Haven't really noticed," Wheeljack said with a shrug. "Though I guess she could use a splash of energon blue."

Kenton faltered, confused. "What? Oh, I wasn't talking about the paint. I mean… can she-_ it_ fly? I mean, I've seen a Cybertronian ship the size of a small town take to the skies, but I still have trouble wrapping my head around-"

"Cap, if there's one thing this rust bucket _can_ do, it's fly like no other ship can."

"So are we going to fly, or should we just walk?" Ratchet called irritatedly from were he stood near the back of the ship.

Wheejack looked back down at Kenton. "You coming?"

She shrugged. "That's all I'm here to do."

* * *

The interior of Wheejack's ship may have been rather small by his and Ratchet's standards, but for Kenton it was huge. Like a small battleship, really. As much as she may have wanted to explore the area though, Ratchet insisted that she stay on the dashboard for her own safety.

"We don't know what stunts Wheeljack may pull, and we can't have you wandering about someplace you could get hurt," he'd said.

She could have argued, but that would have been petty. Besides, she was inclined to agree with the medic; Wheeljack clearly wasn't the type to care about safety, and she didn't want to be caught somewhere unsafe if he should start pulling aerial stunts. So, she got as comfortable as she could on the dashboard, looking out the tinted windshield as the ship took off.

Soon the only sound that could be heard was the hum of the ship's engine, until Wheeljack, who sat in the pilot's seat, spoke. "So all of Team Prime's busy chasing down these four Iacon relics?"

"The four which are currently in play," Ratchet said in confirmation.

"There's more?"

"Megatron maintains possession of the _entire_ Iacon database," the medic explained. "We have yet to learn how many more relics or Decepticon weapons of mass destruction it contains."

"No worries, doc," Wheeljack said carelessly. "I got your back."

Ratchet growled frustratedly. "My name is not Doc! And I do not require anyone watching my back!"

"No disrespect, Ratchet," said Kenton, turning to look at the bot sitting in the passenger seat. "But didn't Prime assign Wheeljack to this mission if only to watch your back?"

Wheeljack smirked. "Cap's got a point. Only reason I'm here is for backup. And, if needed, cleanup."

"What I meant was that I am more than capable of watching my own back," Ratchet snapped. "I proved my mettle during the war for Cybertron."

"Then I'm lucky you're along for the ride, champ," Wheeljack replied. He paused as a small alarm began to emit from one of the dashboard radar screens, on which one could see an unidentified object approaching their ship rapidly. "'Cause we got a bogey on our tail."

Kenton scrambled to her feet. "Can you identify it?" she demanded.

In response, Wheeljack activated one of the screens, on which was projected the rear view of the ship.

"Soundwave!" Ratchet exclaimed at seeing the purple drone tailing their rear.

"Megatron's communication's chief?" said Wheeljack.

"He must be tracking the same coordinates."All of a sudden, the ship shook as the drone - Soundwave - fired on them. Wheeljack pushed the ship into a dive in an effort to avoid the laser fire. "Might wanna grab on to something," he warned, before abruptly pulling _up_ on the controls, forcing the ship upwards.

Ratchet shouted in alarm, catching Kenton as she fell back from the dashboard with a scream. "Wheeljack!" the medic yelled furiously. "Are you _trying_ to send us the the scrapyard?"

The ship continued its steep ascent until it was upside down, going up and over Soundwave. By the time the ship was turned right side up, the tables had been turned - Wheeljack was now in hot pursuit of the drone. With a malicious grin, the tri-colored bot activated the ship's guns and fired. Their upper hand was short lived however, as Soundwave released a second, smaller bogey, which launched itself upon the ship at top speed. Wheeljack banked sharply, barely avoiding it.

"What's that?" he said.

"Soundwave's surveillance drone, Laserbeak," Ratchet replied darkly.

"Why did he launch it?" Kenton asked breathlessly.

As though in response, the small bogey began firing on their ship. "I like you, Cap," Wheeljack grunted. "You ask all the relevant questions."

Kenton didn't respond, simply trying to keep her wits about her. She gripped Ratchet's fingers in a vice as Wheeljack performed a few arial stunts in order to avoid Laserbeak's laser fire. The army captain's eyes strayed back towards the windshield, through which she could still see Soundwave. No sooner had Kenton done this, then Soundwave banked to the far left, out of firing range and out of sight.

"Soundwave's making a break for it," Kenton warned.

"Wheeljack, maintain pursuit!" Ratchet ordered sharply. "Soundwave is simply using the drone as a distraction!"

Wheeljack's grin returned. "I welcome a good distraction." He stayed the ship on its current course, with Laserbeak still hot on their tail. The brash bot pulled the same fake-out trick he had on Soundwave, going up and over Laserbeak until _he_ was the one pursuing. Wheeljack fired on the small drone, saying, "The hunter becomes the hunted."

"This is no time to be hotdogging!" Ratchet admonished angrily.

"Wheeljack," Kenton gasped, managing to find her voice again. "Prime sent us for the relic, not to shoot down drones!"

"I don't know about you, captain," Wheeljack replied, continuing his pursuit of the drone. "But if this relic is so important, I wouldn't want a drone shootin' down my tailpipe the entire time I'm looking for it."

"Laserbeak is one of Megatron's most elusive agents!" Ratchet snapped. "By the time you shoot it down, there won't be a relic to look for because Soundwave will have his hands on it!"

"That sounds like a challenge, Doc."

"Don't call me Do- woah!" Ratchet cut off with a yell a Wheeljack dove after Laserbeak, the drone trying to find cover in the clouds.

Wheeljack's effort proved to be useless. Once the ship was again parallel to the ground, Laserbeak was no where to be seen. Nothing showed up onscreen, and nothing could be seen through the windshield.

"He's gone," said Ratchet. "Now we can find Soundwa- woah!" The medic was once again cut off, releasing a shout of alarm when Laserbeak came out of nowhere and Wheeljack quickly resumed his pursuit, performing a barrel roll for good measure.

The chase didn't last long as Laserbeak was once again lost, and Wheeljack himself flew blind through the thick clouds. The clouds cleared suddenly, revealing the fact that Wheeljack was currently flying at top speed towards a hard cliff face. Ratchet screamed in tandem with Kenton, covering his faceplates with his free hand. Just as the ship was about to crash into the cliff face, Wheeljack pulled the controls sharply upwards. The bottom of the ship was bumped against the cliff, rattling its passengers, but otherwise they made a clean escape.

"Oh, mother of mine," Kenton gasped, pressing a hand over her chest.

Laserbeak soon reappeared, rising up from the clouds in front of them, and making a beeline straight for the ship. Wheeljack didn't bank, didn't pull up, and didn't dive. Instead, he stayed on course, activated the guns, and began firing.

"What are you doing?" Ratchet demanded sharply.

Wheeljack didn't reply, just kept the ship on a straight course towards Laserbeak. It was then that Kenton's mind cleared enough for her to realize what their pilot was doing: he was playing chicken with the drone, and neither Wheeljack nor the drone were showing any signs of backing down.

"You can't be serious!" Kenton exclaimed, voice high.

They were less than ten feet apart.

"Wheeljack…!" Ratchet said warningly.

They were almost on top of each other!

"Pull up, pull up!" Kenton screamed, in time with Ratchet's shout of, "_Wheeljack_!"

Just at the last moment, Laserbeak pulled up. Wheeljack yelled triumphantly, pursuing the drone and getting it within firing range. The guns automatically focused on the small drone, and Wheeljack fired. Laserbeak was hit, and it spiraled downward, leaving a stream of smoke behind it.

"Choke on _that_, 'Con!" Wheeljack gloated.

"You did it!" Ratchet gasped.

All of a sudden, the ship shook. An alarm went off, beeping frantically. Wheeljack and Ratchet grunted, trying to keep their seats as the ship spiraled downward. "We're hit!" Kenton cried. "We're hit!"

"Thanks, captain!" said Wheeljack, struggling to maintain control of the ship, but clearly failing as the ground approached at an alarmingly rapid speed. "Don't know where I'd be without you!"

* * *

Kenton had never been fond of planes or flying in general. She was a foot soldier, trained to survive on the ground. Planes either shot at you, or were shot down. This dislike of planes also applied to commercial flights (though her colleagues sometimes jabbed at her for this). And now that she was here, eyeing what remained of Wheeljack's ship, Kenton decided that she wasn't too fond of Cybertronian arial vehicles either, and added this incident to her list of reasons for disliking flight.

They had crashed on a rocky, sparsely forested mountain terrain. While the surrounding trees saw quite a bit of damage, Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Kenton had stepped out of the crash relatively unscathed, though the latter two were a little shaken. The same could not be said for the ship. It was largely intact, but it didn't take an expert to know that it wasn't about to be flying any time soon.

After a quick mechanical assessment, Wheeljack said, with no little annoyance, "Ah, right thruster's fried."

Ratchet was quick to lay blame, saying, "If you had pursued Soundwave as I instructed-"

"His little birdie would _still_ be pecking at our tailpipes," Wheeljack retorted.

Kenton sighed in annoyance, standing up from where she had been resting on a rock. "This mission is going south fast," she said. "Maybe you should call for backup."

"There's no one left to call," said Ratchet. "No one of usefulness anyway."

"'Sides," Wheeljack said with a grin. "_I'm_ the backup, remember?"

"Considering how useful your backup has been thus far," Ratchet snapped. "That is not much of a comfort."

"That doesn't matter anymore," Kenton cut in sharply, standing between the opposing bots. "If we're really all that's available, what matters now is the mission!"

"You're right, Captain Kenton," Ratchet said with a nod. "We need to resume our search for the relic immediately. Soundwave may already have reached it!"

"_The Jackhammer's_ not goin' anywhere," Wheeljack said matter-of-factly. "If you wanna catch that 'Con, we need to roll."

The tri-colored bot paused, something appearing to catch his optic. Kenton turned to see what it was, and she gasped silently. Both she and Wheeljack approached the object, much to the confusion and irritation of Ratchet, who exclaimed, "Make up your mind! Are we walking or are we driving?"

"Ratchet," Kenton said slowly, reaching for her handgun. "You may want to see this."

As Wheeljack drew a pair of katanas from behind his back, Ratchet approached to see what the two were staring at. He started at seeing the remains of Laserbeak, which lay still on its back, sparks flying from its frame.

Kenton made to approach the bird-drone, but Wheeljack pushed her back with the flat of one of his blades, saying, "Let me handle this, cap."

"Wheeljack, keep your distance," Ratchet warned apprehensively, as the other bot stepped up to the sparking drone. "Laserbeak is the eyes and ears of Soundwave."

Wheeljack hooked one of his katanas underneath the drone and flipped it onto its front. "Not anymore it isn't."

Kenton sighed, holstering her gun. "Crack shot."

"The only kind of shot I take."

"Well, let's see how much of a crack shot it was." Ratchet pushed Wheeljack aside, running a scanner over Laserbeak's still frame. "Operating system appears functional, but offline. However, the crash clearly damaged its optic and audio receptors."

"Guess _someone's_ gonna need a new snitch," Wheeljack said, smirking at the drone.

"A minor victory," Ratchet said, withdrawing the scanner. "And not the one we are here to achieve." The medic turned and walked away, Captain Kenton at his heels.

"Hang on there, Doc."

Ratchet growled in annoyance, turning back to Wheeljack, who hadn't moved away from Laserbeak.

"Situation's right for an old Wrecker trick," the tri-colored bot said, tossing the device that had been clipped to his hip into the air and catching it.

"I'm… not sure I follow," Ratchet said slowly.

"Sooner or later Soundwave's gonna come looking for his pet. We let 'em reunite and return to base packin' a live grenade." Wheeljack held up the device, flashing his malicious grin. "The first time 'Wave reaches inside, he trips the pin and _kaboom_."

"I say no," Kenton said, voice cold. "I understand that you're outside of typical protocol, Wrecker, but that is beyond underhanded."

Ratchet however, was silent, appearing to contemplate something. When he did speak, a sly glint began to appear in his optic. "Why plant a mere incendiary device, when we could plant a more devastating bomb?"

Kenton stared incredulously as the Autobot went to kneel before the downed drone. "You can't be serious…"

"Not an explosive device, Captain Kenton," Ratchet assured, his hand transforming into a giant welder. "But a virus, engineered to pass from Laserbeak to Soundwave." He used the welder to open a panel in the back of the drone. "Then directly into the Decepticon warship's mainframe…" He retracted the welder. "…where it will transmit the contents of the entire Iacon database to us."

Wheeljack looked unimpressed. "Sounds complicated. Thought we were in a hurry."

"Optimus would agree," Ratchet pressed. "Risking the loss of one relic to gain the rest is a worthwhile gamble."

"You really have the chops to pull off that kind of programming?"

"Hm… Not alone. I will require backup."

Wheeljack held his servos up defensively. "Woah, sorry Doc, but I'm not what you would call a techno-type."

"Not _you_ " the medic snapped impatiently. He tapped one of his audio processors, activating his comm. "Rafael, we have a situation."

"Rafael?" Kenton said, surprised. "All right, I realize that he understands Cybertronian technology, but can he really create a _virus_, let alone one so complex?"

"I've been mentoring Rafael in my spare time. Not only does he understand Cybertronian technology, but he knows more about how it works than the average native Cybertronian. If anyone can help me write up a virus to gather intel from the Decepticons, it's him."

::Ratchet?:: said Raf, speaking through the medic's comm., his words also being heard by Kenton and Wheeljack. ::What's the situation?::

"Yes, Rafael, I require your assistance." Ratchet quickly explained his plan to the technological prodigy, concluding with, "If you can write a source code for the virus, my scanner will translate it into Cybertronian script as it uploads."

::I can do it,:: Raf said confidently. ::But if we wanna keep the virus hidden from the 'Cons, we'll need a decoy. Y'know, like a second virus.::

Ratchet was silent as he considered this. Then he turned to Wheeljack, that sly glint returning to his optics. "Or something less complicated…"

The Wrecker looked at the grenade attached to his hip. "A decoy as in, we want 'em to find it, but it doesn't blow?"

"Correct."

Wheeljack detached the grenade from his hip - "Seems like a waste of a perfectly good grenade." - and tossed it to the medic, who caught it and carefully pulled out the explosive core.

"Hold on…" Kenton planted herself firmly between Ratchet and Laserbeak. She didn't appear angry, but she did look accusing. "Attaching a grenade to a wounded enemy? I thought you Autobots had some sense of morality. Doesn't this make you no better than the Decepticons?"

"Desperate times don't call for morality, captain," said Wheeljack. "They call for desperate measures."

Ratchet shushed him harshly, before turning towards the army captain. "Listen to me, Captain Kenton. Laserbeak is nothing more than a drone. A tool that Soundwave and the Decepticons use for gathering intel. We are simply turning this tool against them. Besides, this explosive device is not meant do go off, remember?"

Kenton fixed Ratchet with a darkly appraising look. After awhile, she said, "A drone. A tool. Are you sure?"

Ratchet nodded. "Next to positive. Now if you please, we may not have that much time, and I would rather not have to hold this grenade longer than I have to."

Kenton continued to look doubtful, but she nodded slowly and stepped away, allowing Ratchet to carefully slip the grenade core into Laserbeak's open panel.

::Wait a minute,:: said Raf, whom Kenton had almost forgotten was on the other end of Ratchet's comm. ::A grenade inside of Laserbeak inside of Soundwave? Like a turducken!::

Kenton laughed, but Ratchet looked utterly confused. "I'm sorry?"

::It's a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a… Never mind.::

Ratchet continued to look bemused, and Kenton said, smiling, "It's an Earth delicacy."

"Ah." The medic nodded.

Just then, Wheeljack turned and started walking away, catching attention of Kenton and Ratchet. "And where are you off to?" the latter demanded, standing up from where he had been crouching before Laserbeak.

"To buy you some time," Wheeljack replied. "And, who knows, maybe to pick up a relic?" With a smirk, the tri-colored Autobot transformed into a muscled sports car and sped away, leaving the medic and army captain standing in his dust.

"Pfft," Ratchet scoffed, before turning attention back to Laserbeak.

Kenton settled down to sit on the drone's wing, staring after the long-gone Wrecker. "Quite the interesting characters, you Autobots."

Ratchet scoffed again as he ran his scanner over Laserbeak's frame. "I assume you find Wheeljack's behavior just as unorthodox as I do."

"Honestly, yes. …But honestly, I also think that you and he share a kindred spirit."

Ratchet started, and began sputtering. "_What_? Wheeljack and I are _nothing_ alike! _I_ follow protocol! I _care_ about serving the Autobot cause! Meanwhile Wheeljack goes gallivanting across the globe, doing who knows what, and almost everything he does violates some protocol!"

"Like his trick with the grenade?"

"Exactly!"

"Which you _technically_ agreed to."

"This is different, Captain Kenton. _Technically_, I modified his trick, and besides, desperate times-"

"-call for desperate measures?" Kenton finished.

Ratchet fell silent. Quietly he continued to run his scanner over Laserbeak until it beeped. "Rafael," he said, speaking through his comm. "I've jacked into Laserbeak's uplink transmitter. When you're ready, I will bring its operating system back online in order to receive the transfer."

::Roger that, Ratchet,:: Raf replied. ::Just give me a minute or two more and I'll have that virus ready to download.::

Ratchet sighed, allowing the scanner to fall limp by his side as he waited. Kenton continued speaking. "You and Wheeljack both seem pretty set on helping the Autobot cause. Sure, you do it in different ways, but you at least agree on one thing."

"Yes, well… that does not mean that Wheeljack's insubordination ought to be tolerated," Ratchet grumbled.

Kenton shook her head resignedly. "No, I guess not…" Silence took over, and Kenton spoke again.

"There was once this cadet in my unit," she said, a small smirk on her face. "Very devil-may-care type, and managed to charm just about everyone, including me. He was a superb soldier, having aced every training exercise ever thrown at him. But mother of mine, when he felt that his tactics were better compared to the orders given to him…"

She released a tired laugh, rubbing her forehead. "He was annoyingly unapologetic about it too, even when the tactics had failed. In hindsight, it was hypocritical of me to rebuke him, seeing as I have a bad habit of doing the same thing. But the fact remains that it's dangerous for a soldier to up and follow his own rules. A lone soldier fighting his own separate battle could mean the difference between victory and defeat."

Ratchet hummed thoughtfully. "And what happened to the cadet?"

Kenton sighed, pushing her hair back. "He was transferred after a near disastrous mission. Left his post, took down a few enemies, and nearly let our escort fall into enemy hands. I found out later that one of the enemies he took down was aiming a sniper rifle at me. So even if he nearly blew a mission, it's because of his stupid stunt that I'm still around today."

The medic was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm… not sure what I'm supposed to be learning from this, Captain Kenton."

"Me neither, Ratchet."

::Ratchet!:: Rafael's sudden contact of the Autobot succeeded in startling both him and the army captain. ::The virus is coded. Commencing upload.::

Ratchet quickly hovered his now beeping scanner over Laserbeak's frame. Something within the drone beeped, and it started to shudder violently, causing Kenton leap away from it with a surprised shout. The drone struggled to take off, its wings fluttering rapidly. Ratchet quickly set aside the scanner so he could use both hands to force Laserbeak to the ground.

Keeping the bird-drone from taking off while a virus was downloaded into it was proving to be no easy feat. Every once in awhile Ratchet's hands would slip, nearly allowing the struggling drone to escape. After Laserbeak's third attempt, Ratchet said, "Rafael, what is our progress?"

::Fifty percent.::

As Ratchet began to grumble, Wheeljack's voice broke in through the medic's comm. link, weary and exhausted. ::Doc…?::

Stressed and irritated, Ratchet snapped, "Wheeljack, I _told_ you not to call me that!"

::I'm sorry…::

Kenton stiffened, exchanging a sharp look with Ratchet. "What's wrong?" the latter demanded, concerned but calm. "Where are you?"

Wheeljack groaned. ::Figure you got maybe… two minutes?::

Ratchet quickly turned his gaze to the skies. "Or less," he stated grimly.

"Ratchet, what is it?" asked Kenton, unable to see anything in the darkening sky.

The medic appeared to ignore her, instead speaking to the tired Wrecker. "Wheeljack, what is your condition? …Wheeljack!"

"Ratchet, what's going on?"

"Soundwave is fast approaching our position," Ratchet said darkly. "If we want to have any chance of leaving here alive, we're going to need that virus _now_. Rafael?"

::Almost there,:: the prodigy replied.

Laserbeak was putting up a much stronger fight, and Ratchet quickly gathered the shuddering drone into his arms so as to get a firmer grip on it. Kenton cast her eyes to the sky, and this time she could just make out the dark shape of a drone against the purple sky. Ratchet fell backwards against a large rock as he struggled to maintain his hold on Laserbeak. Grunting, he glanced at his scanner, eyeing the loading bar on the view screen.

"How's that virus coming?" Kenton hissed through grit teeth, drawing her handgun.

"Almost there," Ratchet muttered.

::Done!:: exclaimed Raf.

Ratchet pressed a button on the scanner and Laserbeak's back panel to closed. He released it, and it to dropped to the ground with a clang. A piece or two broke off as Laserbeak scuttled across the dirt like a fish out of water, managing to get beyond the rock before it went still. Just at that moment, a large drone whooshed through the air above and transformed. A thin, faceless bot landed on the ground with a crash.

Kenton ran to hide behind the rock with Ratchet, barely avoiding being seen. Slowly, the two of them peeked out from behind the rock. The bot - Soundwave - appeared to be staring at the wreckage that was Wheeljack's ship. Kenton cocked her handgun with a click. Soundwave turned sharply, pointing a small weapon he had attached to his arm.

Ratchet ducked back behind the rock with a hoarse, "Scrap!" and Kenton draw back swiftly.

The sound of footsteps approaching prompted Ratchet to hold a hand against Kenton's body, an indication for her to be quiet. Kenton needed no encouragement. She held the gun to her chest, her heart pounding as the footsteps stopped just behind them. It was like a suspense movie. But unlike a horror movie, there was no background music to indicate when the scare was gong happen. Only dead silence. Kenton closed her eyes, readying herself.

Metal clattered against metal, an unexpected sound that caused Kenton to flinch. The sound of metallic clicks, hydraulic hisses, and mechanical whirs indicated that something was transforming. Then the footsteps resumed, this time fading away as though Soundwave were walking away from them. Ratchet and Kenton carefully peeked out from behind the rock again, and saw only Soundwave's back as he walked away - Laserbeak was nowhere to be seen.

Ratchet pulled back with a grunt of relief. Likewise, Kenton allowed her arms to fall limply by her sides as she thanked her lucky stars.

Then, something caught her ears: a clicking sound, like a ball chain being played with, accompanied by the scrape of metal. Before Kenton could identify what these sounds were, a dark tentacle-like device, with a metal claw and thick fibers at the end of it, came out from behind the rock, slithering across the ground beside her.

Kenton almost screamed, but she clapped a hand over her own mouth to stifle it, and quickly backed up into Ratchet's side. The medic himself recoiled as a second tentacle came from above the rock, almost touching his shoulder.

The tentacles hovered and snaked about the area, almost touching the two tense beings crouched behind the rock. They appeared to be looking for something. Kenton's eyes landed on a piece of Laserbeak that had broken off. It was currently underneath Ratchet's foot, twitching like a lizard's tail that's just been cut. Ratchet quickly lifted his foot off of the broken piece, just when one of the tentacles darted forward, seizing it in its claw.

Their job done, the tentacles drew back. Ratchet and Kenton watched tentatively as the tentacle with the piece of Laserbeak dropped its prize into Soundwave's chest, to which the bird-drone was currently attached to. The tentacles then retreated into Soundwave's chest, and the tall bot transformed, taking off with a roar of thrusters.

Ratchet picked himself up with a groan and watched the retreating Decepticon. "Soundwave has taken the bait," he informed. "Wheeljack?" There was no reply. "Scrap. Come, captain!"

Kenton was barely recovering from what had just happened, but at the medic's sharp words, she was quick to compose herself. Ratchet transformed into an ambulance, one door already open to admit her. As soon as both feet were in the vehicle, the door slammed shut and Ratchet went tearing down the path they had last seen Wheeljack go down.

"Ratchet!" Kenton said through grit teeth, trying to keep herself from being thrown about as the Autobot medic raced down the dark mountain path. "Slow down! You won't be much use to Wheeljack if you crash!"

"I won't be much use to Wheeljack if I delay any longer!" Ratchet retorted. He turned sharply around the corner of a mountain, headlights falling on the still frame of a certain tri-colored bot. "Wheeljack!" The medic screeched to a halt, giving Kenton barely enough time to scramble out of his interior before he transformed and rushed over to the unresponsive Wrecker.

As soon as Ratchet started to lift his still frame, Wheeljack groaned and his optics opened. "Just… resting my optics," he muttered, before groaning and pressing a hand to his helm. "And my audio receptors."

Kenton jogged up to Ratchet's side, and delivered Wheeljack a relieved smile. "You had us worried there, Wrecker," she said, slightly breathless.

"Hey, I'm a Wrecker." Wheeljack rapped himself on the chestplates. "Not much can get through this hide." In spite of these words, he still groaned as he stood up.

"What happened?" Ratchet demanded.

"Got into a tussle with Soundwave. In case it wasn't obvious, he got away with that relic - some kinda resonance blaster. Fitting, don't you think?" He sent Ratchet a smirk, but the medic didn't appear amused.

"Just be thankful that the Resonance Blaster doesn't appear to have irreparably damage your audio receptors. All the same, you ought to return to base with myself and Captain Kenton so I can determine whether or not they really are damaged."

Wheeljack waved this away. "Don't worry about me. Just let me get back to my ship and I can take care of myself. By the way, how'd your little virus grenade work out?"

Ratchet hesitated. "It was… downloaded at the very least. I have yet to see whether or not it has worked."

"Better get back to base soon then." Wheeljack transformed, and sped back the way Ratchet and Kenton had come.

The latter two were quick to follow, and soon Kenton could see the silhouette of _the Jackhammer_ through Ratchet's windshield. "Rafael," the medic comm'd. "Send the groundbridge."

Wheeljack transformed and Ratchet let Kenton exit his interior before doing the same. "I still advise that you return to base," Ratchet told the Wrecker. "You require a thorough examination."

"The only thing I require right now is some hull sealant," Wheeljack replied as he examined the damaged remains of his ship. "Trust me, _the Jackhammer_ here is in more need of repair than me."

Ratchet glanced at Kenton, who simply sighed resignedly. Turning to Wheeljack, whose entire focus was now on repairing his ship, Kenton said, "In which case Wheeljack, it was… an honor to meeting you."

"An honor, huh?" The Wrecker chuckled. "I've heard a lot of things associated with me, cap, but honor ain't one of 'em." He delivered Kenton a sideways smirk. "But thanks anyway."

The groundbridge appeared behind Ratchet and Kenton. Ratchet made to turn towards it, but then paused and turned back to the Wrecker, saying, "Listen, Wheeljack, I want to… thank you for your… backup."

Wheeljack didn't even turn around as he replied with a nonchalant, "Yep." However, as Ratchet and Kenton turned and walked towards the groundbridge, Kenton could hear him mutter, "See you 'round. Ratchet," before they entered the 'bridge and left the unapologetic bot to his own devices.

Leaving behind the darkness of the mountain and entering the brightness of Autobot base, Ratchet and Kenton were soon greeted by the enthusiastic voice of Rafael.

"Ratchet!" he cried. "Captain Kenton! Come here!" Standing up on one of the platforms, the boy pointed up at the computer screens, on which millions of lines of information were being scrolled through rapidly.

Ratchet's optics widened disbelievingly. "The Iacon database?"

"The virus worked?" Kenton exclaimed.

"It did!" Raf replied happily. "It's downloading into our mainframe!"

This news effected Ratchet like Kenton had never expected to see - the medic threw his head back and laughed ecstatically. "Rafael, you are a _genius_."

Raf smile abashedly, but the high spirits surrounding the trio were brought to a crashing halt by Agent Fowler, who shouted angrily, "_Will you keep it down_?"

Kenton could sense the tense urgency surrounding the agent whom she had last seen lying unconscious on a gurney. "What is it, William?" she said, climbing up one of the platform ladders to stand beside him, only to halt at seeing the Autobot with whom he was in contact with. "Is Bulkhead alright?"

"Well, I don't know, Captain Kenton," Fowler snapped. "I can't send or receive a clear message what with you three talkin' up a party!"

"We apologize, Agent Fowler," Ratchet said, sounding sincere in his apology. "What exactly is-?"

::Fowler…:: Bulkhead's voice came clearly through the comm. unit, exhausted but carrying a triumphant tone. ::Mission accomplished. But you may have to… tuck me in.::

"Raf!" Fowler shouted, turning towards the boy in question. "Open a 'bridge, _now_!"

Raf quickly ran over to his laptop and input the coordinates to Bulkhead's location. The groundbridge was soon fired up, and Raf said, "Bulkhead's coming through, Agent Fowler."

"I can't _wait_ to share the news!" Ratchet exclaimed, the feelings of euphoria surrounding their achievement still rampant within the old bot.

This feeling was once again brought to a crashing halt as Bulkhead came in through the groundbridge. Or, more accurately, flew in through the groundbridge. The big green bot hurtled into the base and crashed to the floor, flames decorating his back, smoke rising from his chassis, and showing no signs of getting up.

The shock and horror that surrounded all who had just witnessed this, Ratchet was able to sum up in one word: "_No_…"

**A/N HardyGal: Thank you to Daughter of Ironman09 and NCISWarriorCats for reviewing the last chapter. NCISWarriorCats, your review encouraged me to get this chapter done, so that is truly appreciated.**

**Yeah, considering the fact that all four episodes overlapped, I decided to save myself the pain of creating four separate chapters, at least three of which would have been ridiculously short. But my GOSH, this was difficult! By the by, I would appreciate some feedback on Kenton's character. And up next, it's an episode that I actually don't remember much of. Hopefully there's enough human insertable action to make Kenton important.**

**DON'T FORGET THE POLL ON MY PROFILE THAT WILL DECIDE WHAT SEASON THREE IS GONNA BE LIKE IN THIS FIC! YOU HAVE UNTIL THE 'OUT OF THE PAST' CHAPTER TO VOTE! CHOP CHOP!**

**And please review. Seriously guys, lack of reviews is woefully discouraging.**


End file.
